THE EAST SIDE
Editorial comment from Steven A. East President
of CSM Group
25 YEARS OF (GREAT) MEMORIES
You’d think with 25 years of
experiences to call on, this would be
an easy column to write. Not true.
There are so many great memories
that picking just a few is like trying to
decide which one of your kids gets to
go to the ballgame with you!
But two words keep bubbling to the
top of my brain: Thank You. And that
means YOU! They say you are known
by the company you keep. In that
case, I’m sitting pretty, because I’m
surrounded by the best. And I
appreciate the heck out of all of you.
Thank you to the best family a guy
could have. Thank you to the greatest
partners and teammates a guy could
have. Thank you for the greatest
friends a guy could have. And thank
you to the greatest group of
community and business leaders
a guy could ever have the pleasure
of dealing with.
Truth is—and maybe what has made
these 25 years so darn rewarding—
everybody mentioned above really
belongs in the “friends” group. And
each and every one of them has had
a big hand in our success. You’ve
pushed, pulled, cheered, coached,
and most importantly supported us
as we built our dream organization.
We certainly aren’t finished, but with
apologies to the politically correct,
“we’ve come a long way, baby.”
I could give you a long list of great
buildings we’ve been afforded the
opportunity to create over the years.
Goodness knows, there are lots of
stories in those buildings (and I’m not
talking about the number of floors.)
But I hope a simple “top ten” list of
business memories will do.
1. Sitting at my desk as a “30-
something” business owner who
had just put his family’s home on
the line…perspiring from armpits
to waist and just “wondering”
what I had done.
2. Our first big interview for a project
when I got asked the question,
“What makes your firm better than
the competition.” I instinctively
blurted out “our people.” And
I wasn’t just saying it. We got
the project.
3. Building relationships on every
project. Always a favorite part—and
we are very proud of the fact that
we are still working with our first
client a quarter century later.
4. Our first office—a whopping
1200 square feet that we built
out ourselves. We thought that
was “it!” (Little did we know….)
Coincidentally, all three of our
offices have been located on
“Michigan.” The current one,
however, runs 22,300 square feet.
5. One of my Dad’s favorite sayings:
“Can’t Never Did Anything.” Which
reminds me of our largest project:
“The New Bronson Hospital, a $135
million venture that changed the
face of our community and, through
evidence-based design, the face of
modern healthcare. It also makes
me think of our fastest project: a
236,000 sq. ft. Meijer store that
we built in 28 weeks, instead of the
“normal” 48. We had to pull out all
the stops to make it happen! (Oops,
sorry— I let a couple projects creep
in there…)
6. Completing 25 years and over
$1 billion worth of projects with
not a single legal action by a client.
7. Another of my Dad’s insights:
“Many hands make light work.” I
reflect on that while witnessing the
professional and personal growth of
so many of my talented teammates
and the amazing things they
accomplish working together.
8. Assembling the best “personal”
board of directors I could have
ever imagined.
9. CSM Kids Day at the ranch. One
of my favorite days of the year.
10. Committed to the philosophy of
aligning interests with all of our
stakeholders. The “engineering”
of CSM as a talent-driven
organization will be my best
business legacy (as I see it.)
The list could go on and on, and so
could I (as I’m sure many people
would tell you). Just pinch me…I still
feel like I could be dreaming.
But I guess “Thank You” pretty
much says it all. So once more:
THANK YOU! |
