OCTOBER Vol. 3
View From 22
Operations & Legal
Marketing & Ideation
Financial Future
CR CONNECTIONS
Talent
VIEW FROM 22 As I write this edition of the CR View from 22, I am very pleased to say that we have concluded another record fiscal year at CR. We could have never accomplished this without all of you and the fantastic efforts that you put into serving our clients every day. On behalf of the Board, the Leadership team and myself, THANK YOU! I am also excited to share that I just returned this weekend from trips to Charlotte, NC and Nashville, TN. In Charlotte, I was proud to represent the 23-person CR team that worked on the Springhill Suites hi-rise hotel at the topping-out party. This is truly an exciting project for CR and the City of Charlotte. In Nashville, Joe Stephen and I were honored to represent all of the CR team as CR was admitted to the PSMJ Circle of Excellence. This award recognizes the top 20% of the highest performing architecture / engineering firms in the nation. This is quite an honor and something in which we should all take pride. As I mentioned a few weeks ago in a video message from Dallas, the Leadership team has concluded its final planning for our F2017 business plan. As you recall, the Directors were able to identify approximately $33 million in projected net service revenues as their target goals for fiscal 2017. Additionally, the leadership team discussed in depth areas in which we need to invest our energies and resources, with the goal of providing more business balance as well as opportunity for all of you. These were manifested in stretch goals with specific emphasis on expanding our service offerings, geographic footprint as well as market segment expertise. These expanded goals set a target net revenue of over $40 million in net service revenue! Our offices continue to expand. I am pleased to announce that we have finally completed construction on the 20th floor expansion in Cincinnati and our team members have moved to a new and legitimate workspace home. Our Minneapolis office has moved in, but some additional construction remains to be completed. Our Denver office construction has started, with the Dallas office construction to start soon. Our additional floor in Seattle is complete and ready for the new furniture to be delivered in the coming weeks. As for new office expansion, our priorities are focused on investigating expanding markets in Phoenix, Chicago and Washington, DC. We are off to a great start as we begin F2017. Thanks again for all you do to make a CR the great company that it is. Regards, David S. Arends
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL EDITION: EXECUTIVE TEAM CONTENT FROM 2016 LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IN DALLAS
Operational Changes Legal Strategy
On Talent Message from David Arends
CR Team Changes Future of Finance Market Diversification Ideation + Innovation
View From 22 CEO Notes
From the Directors What does this mean for you?
Continuing Success and Improvement in Operations for FY2017 Happy New Fiscal Year! The New Year is a great time to focus on areas for continuing our success and working on improvements. Congratulations to the teams that hit the CR efficiency goal of 15% profit on net service revenue. We all can achieve this goal in the coming year by focusing on our communication, efficiency, sense of urgency, and quality. Project Management is at the focus of these topics and in 2017 we will be investing in development of effective Project Managers and Project Management tools including Technology. Did you hear Technology? Yes, technology is one of the key components to our efficient delivery, and it can be a lot of fun, too! We are hitting our Technology Vision goals set several years ago with the addition of Virtual Desktop Integration (VDI) that is to be installed this month. It’s now time to take a fresh look at our Software, Hardware, Infrastructure, and Emerging Technologies to prepare our next 3-5 year Vision and remain leaders in this area of our industry. So why are we trying to be so efficient? This efficiency is the backbone of our business success financially, and the key to providing Design time and opportunities. Speaking of “Design”, this year we will be working on the definition of intention, quality, and engagement of CR Design. A new design initiative and review process will be rolling out in the first quarter. This should be exciting and fun, while making sure that we are all responsible for a clear parti and delivery of that parti. More to follow in the coming weeks… -David Johnson
INSPIRE GROW CREATE CR Legal Strategy in Action - Risk Mitigation in Growth CR is actively seeking a Chief Legal Officer (CLO). This role focuses on risk management strategy, contract compliance, and jurisdictional compliance among other things. Working hand-in-hand with Project Management processes and strategy, the legal strategy seeks ways to mitigate CR’s risk in innovative ways to tackle current and future endeavors that move CR closer to being the national leader in the markets we serve. The legal strategy also paves the way to enter new markets and services with open eyes and risk in mind. Frost Brown Todd, our legal consultant, continues as an advocate and partner with CR related to risk management strategies working through the Division Vice Presidents and Officers. -David Johnson
MARKETING AND DIVERSIFICATION IN 2017 The theme for marketing in 2017 will continue to be diversification. Our work in the private sectors, specifically in retail and hospitality, continues to be strong and remains a solid anchor for our business. However, the percentage of our work in the private sector is disproportionate to the opportunity in the marketplace. In moving forward, it is CR’s goal to achieve a 50/50 split of private to public market activity. This will help protect the business from ever changing economic cycles, while also providing a variety of project opportunities for our employees to pursue for their own professional development. While we will continue to market to and have our business development team nurture the private sector, we’ll be adding emphasis to our efforts in Government/Public Safety, Higher Education and K-12 to support the new Directors, teams and emerging office locations that will be forming in 2017 to support CR’s business diversification. To follow how we are doing, check out the new dashboard reports that we’ll soon start posting in the common areas of all offices. -Kellie Grob
CR EXPERTISE AND IDEATION IN ACTION So what is ideation? It is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas. And, it’s one of the driving Best Practice Objectives for CR. But how do you put ideation into practice at an architecture firm? For CR, one way is through Thought Leadership. Forbes defines a thought leader as an individual or firm that prospects, clients, referral sources, intermediaries and even competitors recognize as one of the foremost authorities in selected areas of specialization, resulting in its being the go-to individual or organization for said expertise. In the coming months, you’ll see more emphasis on developing CR and its employees as thought leaders. Thought leaders who are writing articles, speaking at conferences, serving as panelists and holding key positions in industry organizations. CR possesses great expertise and in the coming year, we’re committed to sharing that expertise in the architectural community as well as the industries we serve. Interested in writing a paper? Reach out to your Director or Division Vice President to get the process started. -Kellie Grob
FORECASTING AND OUR FINANCIAL FUTURE Fiscal 2017 will be a year of concerted efforts to improve processes and internal reporting capabilities to enable us to gather and analyze data thereby enabling us to make better business decisions. Greater emphasis will be placed on budgeting, planning, and forecasting efforts to give us better insight about what lies ahead. -Joseph Stephens, CFO
CHANGING LANES, PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Team Powell adds Bob Carbon and joins Downs’ Division Team Powell
Bob Carbon
Downs’ Division
Team Gaddes joins Adams’ Division
Team Gaddes
Adams’ Division
Lbrands Team joins Team Rowan
Team Rowan
Lbrands Team
(Cristin Wenstrup + Charlie Carroll + Brad Hamilton of Team Rowan begin work with Starbucks)
Michael Haynes joins Team Aleson
Michael Haynes
Team Aleson
Team Kirchberg takes on Petsmart + Price Chopper
Team Bland takes on Government West
Government West
Team Bland
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU? MESSAGES FROM OUR DIVISION VICE PRESIDENTS
When it comes to truly serving others, whether it be individuals, groups, or entire communities, architecture has a way of doing so that adds value, context and structure to our lives. To take it one step further, as citizens of the larger community, public architecture (public safety, K-12 and Higher Education) can and should play an impactful role in the way we navigate our day-to-day activities. As architects and engineers at CR, we have the privilege and responsibility to influence this market growth by positioning ourselves to be a major player in the space. So what, specifically, is CR doing to secure our seat at the table? In 2017 we will grow our Public Safety market by adding new teams in addition to deepening the bench strength and expertise of the existing Government team in Cincinnati. CR will also be doubling our efforts in the K-12 arena by duplicating a second team in Cincinnati as well as strengthening the existing Dallas K-12 team efforts. CR will continue to invest in the development of our Higher Education markets by building additional competencies into an already strong and established team. To make things even more interesting, we will be building MEP capabilities with the focus on serving our public projects. In simplest terms, CR equates the growth in these markets to opportunity within the firm. -Ryan Downs First, I want to thank everyone for their contributions this year. As one of the newer members to CR it has been a pleasure to work alongside all of you. Your passion for what you do is evident on a daily basis. This year we have seen impressive growth with almost all of our clients—this growth speaks to the quality and integrity of work and the services that you all provide. As we look to the horizon we see continued growth in most markets and rapid growth in others. To embrace this challenge one very important thing is clear, the need to change and evolve. “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates. Change will be common theme as we enter the new year. These changes are not for the sake of change, but change for “building the new.” Part of “building the new” will be the creation of a handful of new teams to service the following markets; Multi-family Housing, Commercial / Mixed Use, and Retail. These teams will be based in Dallas, Washington DC, and Seattle. This expansion will help provide opportunities for both career advancement and the ability to gravitate towards a team/market you are most passionate about. As we move through the year we will be putting an additional emphasis on career planning and development—we want to help you reach your career goals. I look forward to working with each of you in our effort to “building the new.” As always, if you have a question, ask it; if you have comment, say it. -Zach Adams
2016 was an exciting year for the Kroger Division of CR. We have made some great progress on the Kroger Program over the last 12 months. The new elevation that CR worked with Kroger to create was rolled out to multiple locations in 2016 with rave reviews. Standardized reporting of metrics and deliverables was rolled out to all regional offices, allowing directors to have better visibility into the successes of their teams. We began work on our first Mariano’s grocery store in the summer of 2016, and we have a lot of exiting initiatives on the horizon for 2017. 2017 will focus on diversification within the Kroger banners. Regional markets will have an added focus on pursuing non-prototypical work, including remodels and expansion projects. We will also be focused on strengthening our partnerships through value added services, standardization of delivery methods, and streamlined document processes. MEP excellence and a focus on sustainable construction and responsible energy consumption, and value engineering, will be major areas of focus for the CR MEP team. That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates as the year progresses. -Adrienne Ruebusch
NOTES ON TALENT As it pertains to the primary HR responsibilities of a CTO – Staff Recruitment, Retention, Development and Engagement – I recognize that we have lots of opportunity for improvement. You see that. We see that. And I see that. I want to thank you for all of your honest feedback in our staff survey that we performed in August. We heard you. Areas of improvement that are clearly in need of focus by our management and leadership team include enhanced communication at both the corporate level as well as the team level, career pathing, staff training and development, and compensation and benefits. This is a big undertaking. Please know that it is being worked on and is a priority focus. I sincerely appreciate your patience. Finally, as I promised during the CR Vision meeting, I am getting more engaged in firm wide communication at all levels of the organization through CEO Pop-Up Meetings, Team Meetings and One-to-Ones. Although time is limited, this is a priority for me, as I want to hear from you all. If you have something on your mind, I want to know it. No question is too silly or too small. You need not wait for a meeting request to share your thoughts. Let’s talk if you have something on your mind. In conclusion, I want to sincerely thank you for all your individual and collective efforts that are helping CR to be the great organization that it is. Regards, David S. Arends
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