Clayco, Inc.

Anthony creatively solves the most complex industrial real estate challenges facing corporations who are aiming to optimize and expand their manufacturing, supply chain, and industrial operations. By leveraging his industry-wide relationships and vast experience in real estate and construction, Anthony delivers Distribution, Manufacturing, Aerospace/Aviation, and Food & Beverage facilities for the world’s most innovative companies.

As Director of Clayco’s residential business unit, Bethany provides design, planning, technical and financial oversight and delivers full-service building solutions to clients on a national level. She has over 20 years of experience in the design and construction management of a wide range of residential, multi-use, hotel and hospitality projects. Bethany looks for clients, projects and relationships that understand and embrace the partnering concept in pursuit of great opportunities to deliver impactful results for our clients.

In addition, Bethany enjoys being involved in large projects and managing multiple projects, people and teams at one time. She has extensive experience overseeing and managing staff, training new hires or mentoring college interns and creating innovative ways to increase job efficiency and financial success. Customer service, business development and promoting corporate culture are also key focuses in her career.

Bob started Clayco with the goal of finding new, better ways to do business, and hasn’t looked back since. Over the past 30+ years, Bob has grown Clayco into one of the top full-service building firms in North America while building Clayco’s commitment to the communities in which they work and becoming a national civic and business leader. Bob has established and nurtured a culture of innovation, collaboration and a can-do attitude that continues to make Clayco the best option for clients, and one of the best places to work in the country.

Carmen leads Clayco’s legal team with the simple goal of delivering fair, efficient, collaborative, and streamlined contracts and other legal documents necessary for Clayco to deliver on-time and as-promised to its clients.  Clayco’s legal team touches nearly every aspect of its business and its people, with a continued effort to provide no-nonsense real life solutions for our clients and their communities.  Carmen is deeply committed to exceeding Clayco’s philosophy that its work and role in the community results in powerful structures with impacts that reach ‘far beyond these walls’.

Carmen works with Caroline and together they lead Clayco’s legal team with the simple goal of delivering fair, efficient, collaborative, and streamlined contracts and other legal documents necessary for Clayco to deliver on-time and as-promised to its clients.  Clayco’s legal team touches nearly every aspect of its business and its people, with a continued effort to provide no-nonsense real life solutions for our clients and their communities.  Carmen is deeply committed to exceeding Clayco’s philosophy that its work and role in the community results in powerful structures with impacts that reach ‘far beyond these walls’.

EDUCATION

Juris Doctor, New York University School of Law – New York, New York
Political Science and Communications Hunter College, City University of New York – New York, New York

EXPERTISE

After more than 26 years of experience practicing law in large law firms, representing clients in commercial, real estate, corporate, financial and litigation matters in US courts, Ms. Hernandez has a broad area of expertise. She routinely leads representation of Clayco and its affiliates in the preparation of complex design-build and construction management agreements and related agreements, as well as in corporate, employment, and litigation matters.

As principal chief development officer of CRG, Chris is in charge of guiding the CRG team in the areas of industrial, commercial and multi-family developments across the United States. Chris has an established background in identifying and delivering valuable real estate development opportunities. Using his experience in the political and financial markets, Chris works to create robust financing packages utilizing federal, state and local incentive packages and working closely with financial institutions to the maximum benefit of the client. During his 15 years of real estate development experience, Chris has contributed to the development and construction of over $500 million in commercial property.

Dan Gibbons serves Clayco as Director of Economic Development.  Gibbons, a life-long Chicagoan, advisor to Mayors and respected philanthropic and civic engagement connector, works to expand Clayco’s development, design and construction business throughout the Chicago region.

Dan currently serves as founding co-Chair of Navy Pier’s Associates Board, is on the Board of Directors of the Magnificent Mile Association, the New Coast Foundation and the Chicago Fire Department Foundation, the Auxiliary Board of the Shedd Aquarium, the Young Leaders Steering Committee of the American Ireland Fund, the Congressional Medal of Honor Chicago Host Committee and the Board of Regents for St. Ignatius College Prep.  He is a Senior Advisor to the mayoral transition of Lori E. Lightfoot and also advises the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, the US Conference of Mayors, and numerous startup companies and non-profit organizations.  Dan received his MBA from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business and his BA in Political Science from Marquette University.  He lives in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood with his wife, Kate and their two young sons.

Frank has spent the majority of his career in acquisition, training, and the development of great people. With over 15 years of recruiting experience in the construction and architecture industry, Frank is responsible for working with Clayco’s leadership to help solve the enterprise’s complex employment needs. He has been a key driver of keeping Clayco’s talent base growing along with the company.

Joined Clayco in 1994 as a Senior Project Manager, and has led the development of key client relationships and project execution for companies such as Amazon, Dow, Sysco, and Dollar General. In Jeff’s new role, he will provide an elevated focus to drive growth and innovation through new and existing clients of the Industrial Business Unit, while maintaining Clayco’s industry and market leading status in the domestic e-Commerce and Distribution segments. Jeff’s level of dedication to our customers and how he shares his industry expertise with them, is a model for how “Doing the Right Thing” is the secret sauce behind Clayco’s success.

James M. Havel serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Clayco Enterprise. In this role, Jim works directly with Tony Schofield, who remains CFO of the individual Clayco businesses. Tony focuses on strategic initiatives and establishing the Clark family office. Together, Tony and Jim steer the financial systems and performance.

Jim’s financial and operational expertise, as well as proven experience with some of St Louis’s most respected organizations, aids our finance leadership team in insuring Clayco takes full benefit of the challenges and opportunities associated with the significant growth the company has experienced.

Jim and his wife, Mary Beth, have two adult sons, both living in St. Louis.  Please join me in welcoming Jim to Clayco.

Before joining Clayco, Havel served as EVP, Chief Financial Officer of Express Scripts and Major Brands Holdings, a privately-held beverage distribution company. He also spent more than 34 years with Ernst & Young LLP, where he began his career in 1976. During his time with Ernst & Young LLP, Havel served as an audit partner and in a number of firm leadership roles, including as managing partner of the St Louis office. Havel is a member of the board of directors of Enterprise Financial Services Corp. and is a Certified Public Accountant.

As President, Kapil provides overall leadership on the performance, excellence and quality of services delivered by Lamar Johnson Collaborative. He works with practice leaders across all disciplines to drive business and operational improvements and ensures alignment with the company’s strategic vision.  Kapil often serves as Principal on large institutional projects such as Cook County Health and Hospitals System Central Campus Health Center, Orange Regional Medical Center, and University of Chicago Center for Care and Discovery Parking Garage.

Karen oversees Clayco’s Diversity and Inclusion for the Chicago Business Unit reporting to Lori Healey and working hand-in-hand with our Office of Government and Community Affairs to ensure consistency in our corporate policies, procedures, and programs being implemented nationwide. With 20+ years of experience specializing in compliance monitoring of construction contracts with extensive expertise in MBE/WBE inclusion from project conception through facility occupancy, she brings a depth of community relation strategies to increase MBE/WBE participation as well as local hiring initiatives, constructive hiring workforce policies and alternative dispute resolution.

Karen began her career as an independent consultant recognizing as organizations and society become increasingly diverse there was the need for compliance requirements with all public and private MBE/WBE services. The understanding of intergroup relations and processes when it comes to diversity and inclusion is why she fervently researched, designed and implemented successful reporting systems to determine the effectiveness of MBE/WBE plans. With the success of these mechanisms, she eventually becomes a liaison for employers, government entities and community organizations alike. She was able to capture the myriad of processes that may interfere with the value of diversity and change that dynamic for the clients aiding them in a considerably essential growth and management of MBE/WBE talent.

As her career evolved, she spent a considerable amount of time as a Strategic Management Consultant for a prominent diversity and inclusion firm that specializes in procurement and workforce policies. One of her most prominent projects was the Cook County Central Campus Health Department project, where she served as the Compliance Project Manager and Clayco, Inc. was the developer and design/builder. Karen utilized her expertise with MBE/WBE compliance to further the outreach of inclusion within the communities she served with staunch campaigns to attract more diverse and contractors in bidding opportunities – ensuring established goals were being met.

During her tenure at the University of Chicago, Karen championed the strategies toward embedding diversity in all aspects of the university’s design and construction projects.

As the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Clayco, Karen’s experience within the construction industry and inclusion expertise will assist in the progressive strategic direction, leadership and community outreach for our Chicago office.

Kevin leads Clayco’s Chicago office, rated one of the best places to work in Illinois. Kevin has led major projects for clients all over the country, including more than 20 in Illinois alone. He ensures that Clayco’s innovative, collaborative approach to delivering results for clients is carried out not only in the Chicago area but across the country.

As a registered architect in 34 states, including California, Lamar leads a multi-disciplinary practice that invigorates his clients’ businesses by simultaneously expressing their values, supporting their culture, and expressing their legacy through architecture. In understanding his client’s objectives, Lamar is both an active listener and a strong leader for facilitating, coordinating, and implementing a clients’ vision. Lamar moved to Chicago more than 20 years ago to open and lead a new office for a large global design firm. Under his leadership, the firm grew to become the largest architecture firm in the Chicago area, providing services to the region’s most prestigious clients.

Actively involved with civic, community, and not-for-profit organizations, Lamar serves on the Cristo Rey Board of Directors and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

His commitment to community endeavors has been recognized with the AIA Illinois’ R Buckminster Fuller Award for dedication to humanitarian concerns and social impact; and “Man of the Year” honors from the Chicago Building Congress and Real Estate Council of the City of Hope.

Lori oversees Clayco’s enterprise activity for development, design, and construction related activities in the greater Chicago area and surrounding region. From leading the NATO 2012 Summit to CEO of a global investment and advisory firm, Lori brings unmatched experience in the public and private sectors.

Prior to joining Clayco, Lori was CEO for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, owner of McCormick Place, North America’s largest convention center, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Marriott Marquis Chicago, and Wintrust Arena.

In the private sector, Lori served as CEO of Tur Partners, LLC., Principal in Charge of the Development Group for the John Buck Company, and principal at Perkins +Will. In 2012, Lori was the ‘executive on loan’ for the NATO Summit in Chicago.

One of Lori’s strengths is bringing together private and public leaders. For example, Lori was President of Chicago 2016, responsible for leading Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games. Lori held several senior leadership positions for the City of Chicago under the administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley, including Chief of Staff and Commissioner of the City’s Department of Planning and Development.

Russ has over 30 years of diversified design-build experience and has held several leadership positions throughout the industry. Russ has been president of the Clayco enterprise consisting of all operating businesses since 2008. He works with clients and Clayco’s leadership to promote collaboration & innovation across the Clayco enterprise and its subsidiaries throughout the country. Russ ensures that a client’s vision is understood in every step of the process.

ASSOCIATIONS

Associated General Contractors, past president
St. Thomas Health Services Foundation, board member
Jr. Achievement, Board of Directors
YMCA, Board of Directors
Seton Society
Westminister Christian Academy, Executive Committee, Board of Directors

EDUCATION

Bachelors of Business Administration, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Masters Exegetical Theology, Covenant Seminary
Commissioned in the 2nd Lt. in USAF October, 1982
USAF Flight training – November, 1983
Tennessee Air National Guard – 1985–2004 Retired

Ryan brings creative problem solving and unparalleled passion to helping our corporate business clients achieve their most strategic real estate objectives. His deep knowledge of work place strategy, disciplined and innovative approach, and ability to partner directly with clients and design firms brings to life world-class, high-performance corporate work environments that surpass client expectations time and time again. Ryan credits his success to dynamic teamwork, an ability to listen to and understand the client’s most important and pressing needs, then working with them in a hands-on, collaborative and transparent manner to establish strategies that best achieve their mission, vision and goals without ever losing sight of their very real business imperatives like schedule and cost.

Sandra addresses external areas of outreach, alignment of community resources and impactful improvement of the design and construction industry—locally and nationwide. Internally, Sandra focuses on talent management and development, including mission, vision and culture. Sandra also plays a critical part in strategic planning for the entire Clayco enterprise, including Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Concrete Strategies and Ventana. In addition, Sandra continues to operate and own Marks & Associates, a firm she founded in 1986. Marks & Associates has been a leader in the development of minority businesses and community MBE/WBE programs nationwide, and more recently she has been offering direct supplier and workforce diversity program management. Sandra’s unique perspective on diversification as a means to impacting cultural norms creates a more vibrant and productive community and industry, one that will complement Clayco’s integrated philosophical approach to solving complex project requirements.

Shawn Clark serves as President of CRG. With over a decade in the commercial real estate industry, Shawn is responsible for providing strategic direction of the company and managing day-to-day operations. In addition, Shawn maintains an active role in deal structuring, fund and project level financing activities, development management, and asset management. Shawn earned his Master’s degree in Real Estate Finance from DePaul University and his Bachelor’s degree in Construction Science and Management from Clemson University. Shawn is the founder of Illumination, an immersive theatrical event that raises money for rare disease research and is a Co-Chair of the associate board for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Todd manages and directs Clayco’s safety team, field responsibilities, and marketing efforts to exceed corporate safety goals and client expectations. Todd is a dedicated safety leader whose strengths include collaborating with others to achieve excellence, executing safety initiatives and processes to successful completion, holding himself and others accountable and persistently pursuing the goal of getting everyone home safe every day.