This year marks my 24th anniversary at Clark. I previously worked for a local company that was a competitor of Clarkâs in the local Oldsmobile and Fisher Body Plants. I had grown to know John and Chuck Clark from our interactions on various factory projects. When it came time to advance my career, Clark was first on my list based on its reputation in the industry. As a side note, my Uncle Dale Myers, had known Leon Clark when Leon was a plant engineer at Oldsmobile. When Oldsmobile was retooling back to civilian production after World War II, Dale was a project manager for a contractor working for Leon in the plants before Leon founded Clark Construction.
When I started with Clark, the company had only one full-time estimator. Shortly after arriving, we began adopting some of the new estimating technologies like digitizers and an estimating program. All the office computers shared four modem phone lines, so we had to take turns checking emails or sending bid invites out.
My favorite project was the University of Michigan Biomedical Science Research Building. Preconstruction for the over $200 million building started in 2000 with a few hand-drawn sketches of the proposed building. The estimating effort continued for over two years with many value engineering efforts. Besides the sheer volume of the building, it incorporated many unique materials and finishes. My mentor on the project was John Clark who provided his years of estimating insight in compiling the complicated estimate.
University of Michigan Biomedical Science Research Building