The following is a recap (from 2010) of a DBIA Midwest presentation at the Engineers Club on Lindell in St. Louis.
Clash of the Titans.
August 18, 2010
By Wesley A. Morgan
Having
worked for both Bob Clark (Clayco) and Fred Kummer (HBE) as corporate
communications director and Vice President of Marketing, respectively, I could
not resist the opportunity to see a breakfast panel presentation that included
those two giants of the industry along with another guy from Burns &
McDonnell (of whom I was not familiar). The event was to be presented by the DBIA-Mid
America chapter at the Engineer’s Club on Lindell.
The
Design Build Institute of America, Mid America chapter is ramping up its
presence in St. Louis. It’s no secret that the fully integrated approach to
architecture, engineering and construction has deep roots in this region with a
dozen top contractors and an army of others calling this part of the world
home.
Fred
Kummer was in unusually good form and quite gracious. Sure he had a few clumbsy
sentences and his microphone wasn’t working all too well for him, but the room
of maybe 150 people didn’t seem to mind. Bob Clark flanked the Burns &
McDonnell panelist stage left and FSK flanked him to the right. Bob is always
witty and charming and today was no different. The rivals have had exchanges from
time to time involving business and personnel, but the format of a “Legends of
the Industry” panel brought out the best in all three panelists. Naturally I
was focused on Fred and Bob.
There
was agreement that Design-Build was a good project delivery method for any
project. Fred stressed his focus on adding value. “There are people who know
the cost of everything and the value of nothing,” Fred pointed out adding, “HBE
sometimes has a tremendous amount invested in a project up front. We think that
is as it should be.” Bob Clark suggested that some owner partnership should
include both having investment up front. He also stressed that while he admires
Fred Kummer’s business model, his is completely different. (Clayco’s offering
includes site selection, real estate expertise and a span of business units.
Clayco selects projects carefully from hundreds of opportunities his firm hears
of in the course of business each day. HBE has moved away from the hotel
business, financial facilities and medical office buildings to be more narrowly
focused on Hospital campuses, not the more broad term Healthcare. )
Bob
talked about a big project, a plant in Midland, MI for manufacturing batteries
for DOW. Fred talked about a $300 Million dollar Kaiser Permanente project that
involved a difficult location in Los Angeles and the challenges of working with
OSHPD regulators in California.
Fred
brought up his early beginnings with a donut shop and a car wash. Bob talked
about scary water leak in a project locally that in the end stressed the
quality of the building’s design. (Fortunately, he added, the engineering and
design of this project contained the problem with minimal damage.)
Both
Fred and Bob got their share of laughs but neither at the other’s expense. Only
gentle jabs and polite references to their differences. The Burns &
McDonnell guy was kind enough to provide perspective and was actually a great
bridge between Bob and Fred.
The
hour and a half flew by and remarkably the great men shared the venue pretty
evenly. David Miller of HERA did a commendable job as moderator and the
DBIA-Mid America chapter will have a tough time topping this one.
# #
#
Wesley A. Morgan is
founder and Principal of Morgan Studio/East, a firm designed to help companies
with planning and execution of effective marketing communications. He is author
of Plan. Design. Execute. which is available at www.morganstudioeast.com For More Information Contact: Wesley A.
Morgan, 2 Glenmaro Lane, Town & Country, MO 63131 (314) 692-7982 Cell (314)
488-9430, e-mail morganwes@aol.com
Partial list of those
in attendance (some spelling issues here, for sure): Harold Allen (RIMKUS), Bob
Clark, Kirk Wardan, Fred Jaekle, Mitch Miller, Gary Meier, Bryant Conant, Tom
Lombardo, Paul Barrath, Pat Moriarty (Clayco Concrete Strategies), Jerry Petry,
Rick Schaefer, Fisk (Alberici), Ron Unterienner, Scott Zola, Dave Miller…A
clash of my worlds to see so many HBE and Clayco alums.
