MMC Corp's Jones on the rise to inspire women in AEC

As vice president of marketing for MMC Corp, a construction services company with offices nationwide, Erica Jones oversees the planning and execution of rebranding, brand identity, training, communications and design initiatives for eight subsidiaries spanning more than ten offices from coast to coast.

Since joining the MMC Corp team nearly eleven years ago, Jones has held various roles, and her promotion to VP of Marketing in 2014 made her the youngest person on MMC Corp’s Officers’ Committee, a leadership team made up of the company's corporate executive team as well as subsidiary presidents.

Jones has utilized her communications and strategic thinking skills to showcase her value and be recognized as not only a leader but an asset in a male-dominated industry. This passion for building credibility among females in this industry has transferred over to her predominantly female marketing team as she has prioritized familiarizing them with the industry, acclimating them with challenges the people in the field experience every day and understanding the services they market. Through building meaningful relationships and truly taking the time to learn, her team crafts brand messages and marketing materials that feel authentic to who MMC Corp is at the core.

“When I joined the construction industry, I absolutely fell in love with it,” said Jones. “I think we are all better as an industry when we have diversity of thought at the leadership table, on project teams and in the office, so I have made it my personal charge to encourage more women to choose the A/E/C industry and to find ways to empower them once they’re here.”

Women make up about 10 percent of the construction industry and 57 percent of the workforce in America. Although the industry remains male-dominated, it’s working towards improvement, and some of the ways to create a more inclusive industry are to recruit more females for industry jobs and educate women on the opportunities for them in this field.

Erica encourages the women at her organization, both in the field and the office, to involve themselves in industry-related organizations. She has led the charge in promoting MMC Corp’s involvement in the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) where multiple employees now hold board positions, and heavily promotes Women in Construction Week (WIC Week) internally and externally to honor females in construction and inform others about the vast opportunities and potential of a career path in construction.

"Our Talent and Development team has specific goals and objectives to promote, attract, retain and educate more females about our company and industry," said Craig Woodson, chief people officer at MMC Corp.

"We have to continue to expose this industry to young women earlier in their schooling, and as we continue to do so, I'm confident we'll see more women in construction and key leadership roles, diversifying our industry for the better,” Woodson said.

Five years ago, Jones advocated for creating a Women’s Professional Network (WPN) at MMC Corp. This program offers mentorship, education, camaraderie and professional development through trainings, guest speakers, and communication.

From this new initiative and a more focused recruiting and development program led by the company’s Talent and Development team, the company has seen a significant increase in females hired and promoted in professional positions. It also provides learning opportunities for activities that are traditionally more male-dominated, such as golf and shooting lessons, so that the women can feel more comfortable in industry events that involve these types of activities.

“Women in supporting or office-based roles in construction typically don’t frequent the jobsites, but WPN has made it a priority to make sure we have the opportunity to get our boots on the ground and learn about what our project teams do in the field, which has been an invaluable experience,” said Natalya Steinke, estimator at MW Builders.

“Other WPN events have also allowed us to get to know the women who are in the field better and learn from each other about our respective roles,” Steinke said.

Since the inception of the WPN, the organization has seen a large increase in its gender diversity across all of its subsidiaries. This year, Jones will be expanding the WPN through a committee made up of employees from across the entire organization and will work closely with MMC Corp’s talent team to ensure its goals align with the organization’s diversity goals.

In 2020, Jones drove the creation of On the Rise, a women’s leadership summit for female rising stars and leaders in the built environment. She successfully garnered support from leading companies in Kansas City – JE Dunn, BRR, McCownGordon, PCI, KCADC, Henderson Engineers and Lockton – to partner with her on the half-day summit that included two panels aimed at helping women elevate themselves, roundtable discussions and a keynote from Sally Helgeson, the author of “How Women Rise.”

Between the females from the partner companies that attended and general admission tickets sold, 150 females in the built environment from Kanas City participated in this event, and many said that it was the most inspiring event like this they’d ever been to.

Greenwood aspires to build sustainable as 'next normal'

In a world struggling with a devastating pandemic and the burgeoning climate crisis, Kansas Citian Sara Greenwood sees an opportunity to adapt to the “next normal” by creating buildings that offer a more sustainable, healthy, resource-efficient and prosperous environment that improves quality of life.

“Now more than ever, the benefit of investing in high-quality, healthy buildings is critical to the community at-large. People want to feel safe returning to work, going to restaurants and moving into a new home,” Greenwood said.

The Kansas City businesswoman's passion and skill were recognized internationally as she was recently named a ‘2020 LEED Fellow’ by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). Greenwood is among 25 professionals who represent exceptional practitioners and leaders within the green building community who have demonstrated mastery of the technical application of LEED, the world’s most widely used green building rating system.

As the principal and founder of Kansas City-based Greenwood Consulting Group, Greenwood is one of only three professionals earning this designation in the Midwest; and is the only professional who specializes in green building consulting services in the Kansas City metro area.

“I can’t imagine a better time to be a LEED Fellow,” said Greenwood, a 16-year veteran in the green building industry. “In a time where we’ve been forced to imagine the next normal, standards like LEED and WELL reinforce that designing and building healthy buildings matter –for the planet and for people.”

Greenwood has contributed to dozens of highly-recognizable projects in KC, including the new KCI Airport Terminal, Grand Place (the former Kansas City Star building), Lenexa Civic Center, Two Light, 1900 Building, Johnson County Library, the new Aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo, the Johnson County Medical Examiner building and seven new school buildings.

Greenwood’s work extends beyond the Kansas City metro with the REACH Building at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, MGM CityCenter in Las Vegas, an expansion at the Georgia Aquarium, assorted FBI Buildings, Port of Los Angeles, and several higher education facilities nationwide.

To date, Greenwood has managed the certification of more than 100 LEED projects totaling more than 8 million square feet.

“Our work with the Lenexa Civic Center, which includes a Recreation Center, City Hall and public market, and the Johnson County Library, are iconic examples of taking a campus approach to achieve sustainable performance,” Greenwood said.

“The Lenexa Civic Center attracts thousands of people every year. It demonstrates optimal energy and water efficiency, daylighting design, and provides our community with a healthier, inviting experience. There are so many ways we can apply LEED concepts to improve not only how our city looks, but also to make it more efficient, healthy, and sustainable.”

The Greenwood Consulting Group is a certified women-owned business (WBE) that is one of the most sought-after sustainable building consulting firms, having managed projects from coast to coast.

 "It's interesting and inspiring to me to see how my clients across a wide range of industries genuinely care about achieving high-performance building standards," said Greenwood. “For my clients, LEED certification sets a high bar for ensuring that a building is actually designed and constructed to set criteria. My clients look to me to help projects achieve their performance goals.”

Other projects in Greenwood’s portfolio include:

·      Zappos Headquarters- Las Vegas, Nevada

·      Whole Foods stores in the South Pacific Region

·      Port of Long Beach- Long Beach, CA

·      University of Missouri NEXTGen Healthcare Building in Columbia, MO

LEED Fellows are nominated by their peers and must have made at least 10 years of exceptional impact on LEED and hold an active LEED AP with specialty credential, among other requirements. The evaluation process includes extensive portfolio review and is carried out by the LEED Fellow Evaluation Committee and supported by GBCI.

The LEED Fellow program was established in 2011 to recognize outstanding LEED APs who have demonstrated exceptional impacts with LEED in key mastery elements related to technical knowledge and skill; a history of exemplary leadership in LEED; significant contributions in teaching, mentoring, or research with proven outcomes; and a history of highly impactful commitment, service, and advocacy for LEED.

“The green building industry plays a critical role as we look toward rebuilding our economy and our communities in the months and years ahead,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of GBCI and U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Pulse Design Group moves into Plaza high rise

Pulse Design Group has moved into their new office space on the tenth floor of the 46 Penn Centre building.

Custom-designed by their own team, Pulse’s new, 10,000-SF headquarters feature unobstructed views of the Country Club Plaza, an open floor plan and plenty of space to safely collaborate and accommodate anticipated staff growth.

The finished product is a welcoming environment that fosters collaboration, innovation and creativity - the perfect stage for a team of healthcare forward-thinking architects, interior designers, medical equipment planners and virtual reality developers.

“The move to the Country Club Plaza provides a larger footprint for firm growth, adds increased visibility, creates a central locale for employees, clients and industry partners, and offers additional amenities for associates,” said Rick Embers, managing partner for Pulse.

The open kitchen and dining spaces provide an area for the entire firm to meet and further encourage employee camaraderie. Multiple meeting spaces, varying in size, provide areas throughout the office for employees to work individually or in small groups.

“The new space is also great for entertainment. The central location and open-floor concept caters to hosting industry events,” said Lindsay Hampton, Pulse principal.

Pulse is optimistic that the move across the state line - from Lenexa, Kan. to Kansas City, Mo. - will catapult the firm’s goals; which include recruiting and developing talent, increasing brand awareness, identifying new business to diversify the firms portfolio, expanding the firms geographic reach and adding areas of focus within healthcare design.

“Employee morale is at an all-time high. Everyone is so proud of our new space,” said Pulse president, Dennis Burns.

It was important for the leadership to have all hands on deck while creating their new office, which even served as a learning tool for younger staff who were included in design charrettes, an integral part of the creative process.

“Many Pulse employees were involved in the creation of our new space and it is was amazing to see the employee excitement while creating their new home. Our new office space is collaborative, open, modern and caters to innovative design,” said Basil Sherman, Pulse principal.

Pulse leadership is also dedicated to employee professional development, encourages community involvement networking with industry professionals and assists and advises in employee growth.

“Whether that requires advising intern architects on licensure, helping staff achieve accreditations, suggesting outlets to obtain continuing education credits or mentoring a summer intern, Pulse Design Group leadership capitalize every opportunity to assist employee professional development,” said Mary Moore, Pulse associate principal.

Providing cutting-edge, solution-driven design solutions are at the core of the firm as exemplified in one of their recent projects at Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) West Campus.

Representing the largest single campus expansion in it’s history, the LMH Health West ambulatory facility is a new, 243,000-SF medical office building designed to guide the organization for the next 20 years. Pulse Design Group provided full architectural and interior design services in addition to complete scope of services for medical equipment planning. This design-build project featured a constant collaboration between architect, contractor and owner that resulted in a cutting-edge facility to serve Douglas County.

Pulse Design Group was originally founded in 1980 as Wilson Johnson Associates. In 1997, Rick Embers joined and the firm became known as Wilson Johnson Embers (WJE). In 2011, WJE rebranded to Pulse Design Group, zoning in on their healthcare industry focus. Today, Pulse Design Group is celebrating over 40 years in business.

“Many of the firm’s employees have been with Pulse Design Group 10+ years, a true testament to positive employee satisfaction,” said Michael Andracsek, Pulse principal.

From a COVID-19 standpoint, Pulse is maintaining a safe and operational office space with safely-distanced workstations, staff mask requirements and room occupancy limits.

To learn more about Pulse Design Group, please visit their website at www.pulsedesigngroup.com.

Flexibility, vision key to KC law firm's success

Until the 2008 financial crisis, Mandi Hunter’s law practice focused on representing banks and lenders in litigation.  During the recession that followed, she began more real estate transactions work, including loan modifications.

In the wake of the recession, Hunter saw a market in the Kansas City area for a law firm that was based on real estate and secured transactions work —a firm that could handle a matter “from the ground up.”

Hunter realized her vision in 2014 and opened the Hunter Law Group, P.A., a full service real estate-focused firm. 

Today that law firm is staffed by four attorneys who have more than 90 years of experience between them:  Hunter, Stephanie Hammann, Susan DeCoursey and Christine Schlomann.  The firm also has one paralegal.

The firm handles both real estate litigation and transactions work.  Their clients include banks, agencies and brokerages, contractors, developers, investors and others with matters that touch on real estate.

“We know how to get a deal done,” said Schlomann, who recently joined the firm.

Hunter said the attorneys in her firm give clients a more personal level of service than the larger law firms at more client-friendly rates.

“We’re just as effective but much more efficient.  We’re not burdened by the red tape of the big corporate firm.  It gives us more flexibility,” said Hunter.

“We have a really collegial environment, and I feel like we have that with our clients too,” said Hunter.

Hunter said the biggest challenge the firm currently faces is litigation during COVID.

“It’s a whole different ballgame in terms of practicing.  How you’re interacting with the courts and opposing counsel, depositions, trials, that’s been the biggest impact on our practice due to the pandemic,” Hunter said.

“It’s very hard to do an evidentiary hearing or a trial with everyone in a different room, and all you see is just what you can see in front of the camera,” said Schlomann.

Hunter said she does not have any current plans to grow the firm, but the firm does have the ability to grow and adapt if the need arises, as they have from the beginning.

“There is not much that walks through the door that we would have to send away,” said Hunter.