Ron Unterreiner Named Honoree in SLBJ Champions for Diversity & Inclusion Awards

Congratulations to Ron Unterreiner on being named an honoree for the St. Louis Business Journal's Champions for Diversity & Inclusion Awards! Founder, Owner, and President of PEOPLE of Construction, Inc., Ron is an active leader in our AEC community and his hard work does not go unnoticed. He is a key part of the SLC3's DEI Committee and his enthusiasm for helping others is unmatched.

About PEOPLE of Construction, Inc.: PEOPLE is a non-funded, non-profit, non-organization established for the primary purpose of introducing the minority contracting community to the majority contracting community. PEOPLE is among other things, a focused networking event allowing minority contractors to mix it up with General Contractors, majority subcontractors, professional organizations, and owners and get to know each other and ultimately to work together on meaningful commercial construction projects in the St. Louis marketplace.

Clayco Risk Manager on Success: 'We Want People to Just Feel Safe'

From Construction Dive

Todd Friis is proud of Clayco’s safety record, but he’s not easily satisfied.

The Chicago-based contractor announced June 26 an Experience Modification Rate of 0.4. A metric used by insurers to measure company safety, the EMR industry average is 1.0, and lower than that indicates an above average safety record, while also directly affecting a firm’s workers’ compensation rate.

Even so, Friis, senior vice president of risk management at Clayco, acknowledged safety is a tireless effort, especially when it comes to training those new to the trades.

“Safety is like anything else, you got so many things going on in your life, if somebody isn’t getting the important thing in front of you, it just kind of goes to the back of your mind,” Friis said. “So, we’ve got to tactfully figure out how to keep the safety pieces, the important things to the front.”

Here, Friis talks with Construction Dive about defining success, getting follow-through from subcontractors and training effectively with workers’ shrinking attention spans.

How do you define success when it comes to safety?

TODD FRIIS: Well, I’m pretty critical myself, but as a company — representing Clayco — I think at the end of the day, we want people to just feel safe. Period. 

To me, the ultimate compliment from either our own people or clients or subcontractors is when they say, “Well, we’ve been with Clayco, or we worked on a Clayco project, and it’s not like anything I’ve never experienced.” And we hear that quite frequently. Then I’ll ask for some specifics, and they’re like, “You’ll really do what you say you’re going to do.” We have a specific glove requirement, for example, and a helmet requirement and all the pretty basic stuff. Whereas a lot of GCs or other companies, they’ll say they do it, but they don’t really hold their workers to it or they only do it when it’s convenient. We actually hold people to it in a good way — not in a punitive way necessarily. 

What kind of technology does Clayco use to help with safety practices?

Clayco uses drone footage, BIM 360, ACC Build and our Work-Safe app to help with safety practices. The Work-Safe app is a digital safety documentation platform Clayco has built in-house with our IT development team. Launched in March 2022 and available on phones, tablets and computers, the platform replaces traditional paper forms used in the field, making safety documentation easier for our employees and trade partners, while helping us collect and quantify data. The data helps us identify best practices and potential issues. 

Currently, the Work-Safe app supports: 

• Worker profiles/subcontractor management via an online form subcontractor workers fill out when they start a project that includes emergency contacts and training certifications. This information can travel with workers from one project to another, preventing the need to fill out new paperwork and start from scratch with each new assignment. This information can also be managed by the project team.
• Boots in the Field Safety Observation — this involves documenting behavioral observations on site during the workday in a uniform manner, identifying best practices and potential issues.

Vessel Architecture: First Capitol Place Bank Demo Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vessel Architecture and Design and St. Charles Strategic Development Announce Demolition of Bank on First Capitol Place Site

Saint Charles, MO – Vessel Architecture and Design, a leading architecture firm based in St. Louis, MO, announces the upcoming demolition of a former bank building on the site of its visionary project, First Capitol Place, in the heart of historic Saint Charles, MO, on Wednesday morning, July 31^st. Bellon Wrecking, also based in St. Louis, MO, will perform the demolition. This is the first step as the team at Vessel along with St. Charles Strategic Development prepares for groundbreaking and construction. This innovative development promises to pay homage to the 250-year legacy of the region, blending the past with a forward-looking architectural perspective.

“Today is an exciting day for Saint Charles as the first step in this new development takes place. First Capitol Place will enhance the corridor leading into the Historic District and provide luxury apartment living that is needed in our area. We look forward to the groundbreaking, construction, and transformation of this area in the months to come,” said Mayor Dan Borgmeyer, City of Saint Charles.

First Capitol Place represents a balance between authenticity and innovation, capturing the essence of Saint Charles’ historical character. Inspired by the city’s heritage, from the explorations of Lewis and Clark to the establishment of the first Capitol and the bustling steel mills, the project transforms these historical elements into a modern architectural endeavor. Steve Hollander, AIA, Owner of S.J. Hollander Architect was instrumental in the design of First Capitol. “From presenting initial design concepts to being a key collaborator throughout the design process, Steve was a tremendous asset to the team. His deep knowledge of the history of Saint Charles proved invaluable in guiding us through the historic review process,” said Peter Schwartz, AIA, Principal Architect at Vessel.

The design of First Capitol Place is crafted to offer more than just living spaces; it provides a community where residents can enjoy a range of amenities designed for modern living. These include a community room, a pet wash station, and a rooftop deck featuring pickleball courts, a state-of-the-art indoor/outdoor fitness center, grilling stations, and fire pits, all while providing breathtaking views of Historic Main Street and the Missouri River.

The Only Way Out of St. Louis' Demographic Winter | Opinion

From St. Louis Business Journal

Let’s start with the bottom line: The St. Louis metro is in what demographers call“demographic winter,” which means that we have more deaths than births and our ratioof seniors to toddlers is positive. The real-world effect of this condition is that we cannot realistically “grow ourselves outof it” organically anymore; rather, to increase our population we must have more in-migration and less out-migration.

The problem

As noted in a previous article, our 16-county bi-state region (MSA) has experienced adramatic lack of population growth – as compared with similar regions around thecountry – over the past five decades. 

Our situation has only gotten worse since then. As shown in the chart below, the significant decline in population of the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County from 2020-2023 is no longer being offset by the significant population increases of St. Charles and the other collar counties in Missouri. The same is true for the losses in Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois, which are not being offset by gains in the Missouri exurb counties of Lincoln and Warren.

The solution

Simply put, to address this existential threat to growth and prosperity, our region has to do something that it literally has never done before. We – all of us – must come together and work together to address a common problem.

Local government leaders – at every level and from all over the region -- need to come together to lead the way. And the entire business and civic community, throughout every corner of the region, needs to come together to support this common effort. For the first time in our history, we all need to agree to work together jointly to pursue a singular regional objective.

We recommend that this unified and focused process be coordinated by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, with substantial support from all parts of the region’s business and nonprofit sectors. Once organized, we suggest that our region-wide government and civic leaders follow these three key action steps:

• Reach a consensus, up front and in advance, on the nature of the problem and a common definition of the challenge.
•  Ensure that everyone is truly on board with an effort to directly address this challenge, rather than indirectly by looking at ancillary issues that can be addressed in other contexts.

20 Often-Overlooked but Effective Business Development Strategies

The right business development strategies can make all the difference in your company's growth and long-term success. However, some of the most effective strategies—like getting feedback from your frontline workers and nurturing existing customers—can easily fall by the wayside.

To help business development leaders and their teams make the most of their efforts, 20 members of Forbes Business Development Council discuss impactful strategies that are often overlooked. Here's why they believe these strategies work and how you and your team can successfully put them into practice.

1. Nurturing Existing Customers

A frequently overlooked strategy is nurturing existing customer relationships for repeat business and referrals. This may be due to a strong focus on acquiring new clients. Leaders can foster awareness by emphasizing customer satisfaction metrics, implementing regular feedback loops and training teams on the long-term value of customer retention and relationship building.

2. Collaborating Across Departments

An overlooked strategy is leveraging internal collaboration across departments. Many companies operate in silos, missing out on valuable insights and synergies. Leaders can remedy this by fostering a culture of open communication and teamwork, encouraging cross-functional projects and regularly sharing knowledge. This holistic approach enhances innovation and aligns efforts towards common goals.

3. Evolving Brand Messaging

Brand messaging and positioning need to evolve on a consistent basis and feed back into the overall business development process. It's often overlooked for several reasons, but the key reason could be structural, where brand management messaging is far from the customer. The voice of the customer and product feedback needs to be read into all functions within the organization.

4. Having Face-To-Face Meetings

I work for an artificial intelligence company. AI can do lots of really amazing things. These features change and grow every day, but AI still cannot beat a solid handshake. Meeting people face-to-face costs more than a phone and much more than email. However, these cannot touch (pun intended) building better relationships and increasing your revenue through face-to-face meetings.

5. Actively Seeking Feedback From Loyal Customers

Nurturing existing customer relationships is a vital, yet often overlooked, business development strategy. Prioritizing new customer acquisition can sometimes overshadow the value of loyal clients. Actively seeking customer feedback can unveil opportunities for product or service improvement and innovation, fueling long-term growth.

Expand your network with the FRB St. Louis facilities team and learn about the opportunities available at the Bank, including previous projects! Registration Details will be released soon.

When: Thursday, September 26th, 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Where: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Economy Museum (free/secured parking in the Bank's garage)