In this episode of our "Leading the Way" mini-series, we sit down with Terry Glade to discuss the importance of community involvement in the architecture profession. Terry shares his insights on how CMBA gives back to the community through various initiatives and how these efforts align with the firm's core values. Listen to learn more about the positive impact architecture firms can have on their communities.
(Skyler): Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Laying the Foundation podcast. My name is Skyler. I'm your host. And today we are doing a very special episode of our Leading the Way mini-series that we've been doing throughout the year. Today I am sitting here with Terry. Terry, welcome back to the show.
(Terry): Yeah. Hey, Skyler. Thank you. I love the show. I always appreciate being on the show.
(Skyler): Yeah!
(Terry): Actually, I'm anxious to listen to the Spooky Spaces episode. I have not listened to that yet.
(Skyler): Our Halloween special episode. Where we talked about some of the spooky spaces that we've done work in, or we've toured in the process of doing work in. But today we're talking about something that you're really passionate about, and I think all of CMBA is very passionate about, and that is community involvement.
(Terry): Right.
(Skyler): And it goes into this idea that we are a business, we are for-profit, so on and so forth, but the important element is we also live in a community that we're doing designing for, and we want to be a part of that community outside of just trying to make money and pay our employees and so on and so forth. Right? We want to be active and engaged with the community that we live in. We want to see our community benefit in a number of ways. So that's kind of what, as I understand, what we'll be talking about today.
(Terry): Exactly.
(Skyler): Yeah. That level of community involvement. So, I guess just kind of kicking things off from CMBA's perspective, from our history, from our core values, and our mission. How does community involvement factor into that?
(Terry): Well, it started... So I've been with the company almost 28 years now, and it really was evident even back then, the original guys in the firm, that community involvement was important. We all love to be... We want to be known as the best architecture firm in town. Best architecture firm in Iowa, United States, whatever. We want to do great design. We want to be known for great design and great client service, which I think we have and we are, but again, it's been modeled for me through all the years, through the other partners. It was actually modeled for me as a child. You aren't just involved in the community because you live there; you want to make it a better place. It's just kind of who we are. And we've even hired people, over the years, who have that same philosophy. So when I started, Jim Brygger, of course, did a lot of things for the church and actually was responsible for witnessing to a number of people about his faith. Owen Mamura was heavily involved in the Boy Scouts. Jim Ruble was in service clubs. Todd Moss was even on the city council. And so that was modeled from early on. And again, just throughout our company, I think someone is trying to compile a list of all the organizations that we're involved with. Personally, since I started with the firm... Well, even before I was with the firm, I was on the Leadership Siouxland board of directors, again, mentoring people to be leaders, future leaders, in Siouxland. I was on the Environmental Advisory Board, and we started the electronics recycling program years ago.
(Skyler): I remember you telling me. We had that nice drive up and back from one of the projects that we had worked on, which was Floyd Valley.
(Terry): Floyd Valley, yeah.
(Skyler): Yep. And we had a really great conversation. You told me all about those, and then there was another one too. But yeah, go for the electronics recycling program, I want to hear about that again.
(Terry): So this was the first electronic recycling event that the city had organized. And this was back when TVs were first starting to go to flat screens. And so everybody had those big old tube TVs, projector TVs, they'd had computers that had died, and they'd held onto for years. So we actually had the event in two locations for two days. It was our first year and just super successful. And, selfishly for me, I can look back and say, "Wow, that's great. That's still going every year." But it's, again, that's a service to the community. We responsibly recycled all these electronics. They didn't go to the landfill.
(Skyler): Absolutely.
(Terry): Then I had been involved in the Rotary Club and their Student of the Month program, the Downtown Partners. We've done a lot of projects to help beautify downtown and make it more livable. And I've also volunteered out at the STARS program, which is a special troopers' adaptive riding school outside of town. It helps kids with disabilities. It's called Hippotherapy with Horses.
(Skyler): Oh, nice!
(Terry): It's just amazing to see how they react to riding and controlling, and grooming horses. It's just, it's really rewarding. But again, you're giving back to your community. And that's what I think I want to say as far as leading the way, that we as principals do that, but our entire company as well. I mean, we have Amy, who helps prepare taxes for people. We have people that are on planning and zoning boards, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters the list goes on and on.
(Skyler): It's a very long list.
(Terry): The Des Moines office just did a food packaging program.
(Skyler): Absolutely.
(Terry): And so that's, I think, for me personally, again, I want to be known as the best architecture firm. But probably more important to me and more important to a lot of people is to be known as just good people, good citizens, and just engaged in wanting to improve the quality of life in your own community.
(Skyler): Absolutely! And if we look through all of those things we've talked about. Brian and I are going to sit down, we're going to do an episode all about the giving process, giving back to our communities, and I'm sure a lot of this is going to go into it. but the emphasis that we want to really create is that, obviously, giving financially is very important. It's really helpful. It's beneficial to the community, of course, in finding those organizations that you're passionate about and giving to them so that they can do what they do. But there's the other side of it, too, of giving our time. And not only giving our time, but what I would call innovation. Right. The recycling program that you talked about before for the electronics, I mean, that didn't really exist up until you and your team created it. And it was something that was necessary. It was at the right time when, like you said, everybody was switching over. They had all these electronics they wanted to get rid of. It could end up in a landfill where it gets crushed into the ground.
(Terry): And it sits there for toxic chemicals.
(Skyler): Spreading into the dirt, which is really bad for, especially in a state like ours where farming and things are so important. We don't need that kind of stuff in our soil. And so you guys came up with an innovative way to help take these. This let's call it a problem. Right. And turn it into a positive: recycling and reuse. Something so important to our society, and being environmentally friendly. And then looking through some of the other examples that you gave. Renewing downtown with the Downtown Partners and everything they do, making sure that our city is thriving, and having that really cool downtown district that people are attracted to. Too many times you drive through these small towns, and their downtown areas are old and run down because nobody wants to be around there anymore. They want to go live in the new spaces, or they're moving to different towns. We want to make sure that Sioux City is getting elevated. And, granted, Sioux City is only one of our locations for CMBA, but I digress. Helping people with disabilities and giving them that innovative approach of interacting with the horses, which is really cool. Learning to ride, learning something new, and, again, the hundreds of other ways that people in our firm have given back, both with their time, but also financially, and also with, again, innovation, something different, something new that we can see as something beneficial to our community.
(Terry): Yeah. And I'm very proud of our company for that. Again, Todd on City council, Brian was, board chair of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce. He serves in the Air Guard.
(Skyler): Yeah.
(Terry): The ultimate service there. And it's just all of our offices. I know I can't list them all, but everyone in our offices, I think, that's a part of their core value. And that, to me, is more important than almost anything else.
(Skyler): Yeah. More than how much money a person's making.
(Terry): Yes. That's good. We like to make money. And again, we'd love to do great design and absolutely. We want to do what's right for our clients, but I think we've intentionally developed a culture where giving back to your community is just as important.
(Skyler): Absolutely. And honestly, kind of going over to what you were talking about being on those city councils and those boards, we, within the architecture industry, we're doing so much research to find out new and better ways to do things as far as design and architecture. Right? Buildings that we're using every day, the schools, the hospitals, that our communities are using every day, are so important to know ways to make them better. But to take that a step further outside of the design and getting involved in those boards and whatever political aspects are making those decisions, and being able to enact those new policies that would help to make better buildings, make better designs more easily accessible, or whatever the case might look like. I mean, that's also pretty key to being involved in your community and bettering your community.
(Terry): Well, if you had talked about Jim Brisnehan and our Grand Island office, and if he's been working on the architectural licensing board there, again, it's trying to improve even our experience as architects and advocating for good practice in our profession. That's what we're really after.
(Skyler): Absolutely. We've got to make sure everybody's following the appropriate procedure. Making safe spaces, making safe buildings, and making sure that those who are focused on that and continuing their education to make safe spaces are the ones that are retaining their licensure or whatever the case may be, which, of course, you can find out more about if you check out Jim's episode. But yeah, it's a great way to get involved with the community, getting involved with those. I mean, we're professionals within our areas, our markets, our industries it just makes sense to want to be involved in making those movements towards the better future within that industry.
(Terry): Right. And I would say, even as a child, I saw my parents model it mostly with church. And a lot of our people are involved in church groups. And even the parents who are coaching kids' sports and involved. We were involved heavily with the marching band with our kids. But my parents had a lot of leadership roles in the church. They just felt that it was important to be involved and make that difference.
(Skyler): Absolutely. And it's important to emphasize, too, that there are no small parts when it comes to community. Everybody's doing something that can help with some element. If you're somebody who organizes food at the food pantry, you're helping fight against the hunger crisis in your community. That's so important. And it's no different than somebody who sits on a political board to enact new policies. Right? We're all working together in sort of an ecosystem to support each other. Those new policies can help bring some tax incentives or whatever else to people who want to donate that food, then you're the one who's organizing it and making sure it's getting into the hands of the people that need it. You know, it's all part of that cycle that's so important. So there's no small parts by any means.
(Terry): I think that's a great point. That there is no small part. You may feel like, "Oh, what I'm doing is just some of these tiny little things," but it's all important. It all makes a difference.
(Skyler): Absolutely, as long as you're getting involved, obviously.
(Terry): Right.
(Skyler): Then you are a part of that ecosystem. And I think that's what we are aiming for. We might organize a food drive to collect some canned food and materials for those in need. That's not a small effort. That's a necessary piece of the puzzle.
(Terry): Right, right.
(Skyler): If we're putting the whole puzzle together and we don't have that food drive piece, the puzzle's not complete.
(Terry): Yeah.
(Skyler): We've got to have that in there so that people can get the food that they need and so on. So, yeah, there is no small part. Everything's a piece of everything. And it's just important to get involved and to find ways to get involved or create ways to get involved.
(Terry): Exactly. And this firm has a huge history of being involved with United Way, and that's financial giving, but there, again, you're affecting the lives of so many people around Siouxland every year. And so that's, again, that's been something that's been consistent since I started with the firm. We've always had a large commitment to United Way and the organizations that it represents.
(Skyler): And that's something that I discovered this year, not knowing much about what United Way was and who United Way was, up until this year when I started really talking to people as part of a video promotion that I put together. And it was really cool to see just how diverse. And I know this is a little bit of a plug for the United Way, but it is a fantastic organization and how they sort of distribute the funding to all these different programs that go everywhere from helping kids developing within education, all the way to helping the elderly get resources that they need such a broad and wide variety of different, amazing nonprofits and charities. And just everything in between it's really cool.
(Terry): Well, and some of that funding goes to the organization where Amy does the taxes.
(Skyler): Absolutely.
(Terry): So it's all intertwined. And again, it's just part of our DNA, and I'm proud of that. And I just appreciate all of our people who get involved in whatever way, big or small.
(Skyler): Absolutely. It's really cool to also see... So for our birthdays this past year, for our employees, we did $100 gifts in their name to whatever charity that they chose. It was a really cool initiative. And it was really cool to see the, I mean, there was a lot of giving towards United Way because that's something that we as a firm have kind of partnered with and are really passionate about. But it was really cool to see the variety of different organizations that people had picked, and all these different things that you don't know about unless you're directly involved with it and seeing these awesome initiatives. Everything from the Boys and Girls Club, which I think a lot of people know a pretty decent amount about what they do, all the way to a historical preservation or animal preservation, and everything in between. It could be a local library or the YMCA, and their programs to help families. It was really cool to see just how diverse and that was from everybody in the firm. So every single person got to choose where they wanted to send this money to. And it was really cool to see just how diverse our people are and how involved they are in such different things.
(Terry): Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. I had thought about that too. And again, the variety of organizations that people had to donate that birthday money to. It's really cool and exciting to see.
(Skyler): It was really fun. I'm glad that we did that. There are a lot of different options for what we are going to do for the birthday posts this year, or what we are going to do to make either birthdays or anniversaries a little bit extra special this year. And I'm glad that that's the direction we went with that because I think that was really neat. So, what about as architects specifically? Are there any sort of specific community involvement efforts that we personally achieve as architects that maybe somebody from a different industry couldn't do because they don't have those connections or those skills?
(Terry): Well, the people who have been on planning and zoning, we obviously bring a knowledge about things that other people wouldn't know necessarily. I think that's a very valuable type of interaction. Even the Downtown Partners, when we're speaking about improving downtown, and it could be storefront improvements, we did the wayfinding signage and decorative street lighting, those types of things. As designers, we know we have that background, and so we can provide good input even with the bidding of some of that work for Downtown Partners. I had the knowledge of, you know, how we normally bid projects and could bring that to the table. So yeah, there are a number of things, I think, in the historic preservation, Teresa is involved in that.
(Skyler): Yeah.
(Terry): And obviously, we're very well equipped for that type of role.
(Skyler): Absolutely.
(Terry): So I think there are a number of ways in which our architecture skills can actually benefit those organizations.
(Skyler): Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're experts in our field. I always have to rephrase this, but I'm in marketing, whereas you guys are the architects. But you guys absolutely have those very diverse skills within the architecture field: technician stuff, engineer stuff, all that kind of stuff. And, being able to bring that to the community and make recommendations or help in ways that we experience work in our everyday lives and help them with those processes to better our communities, it just makes sense.
(Terry): Yeah, it fits very nicely with what we do.
(Skyler): Well, is there anything else that I haven't covered that you wanted to talk about within the community involvement aspect?
(Terry): No, I think we really covered it. Again, I'm glad you brought up the birthday donations, because that was on my list. I think that was very... I can't remember who came up with that idea, but that was a very innovative way to, again, just donate to a cause that means something to you.
(Skyler): Absolutely.
(Skyler): And it shows that we're passionate about things..
(Terry): I mean, for crying out loud. Brian repelled off the side of a 12-story hotel for charity.
(Skyler): What? So why didn't I hear about this?
(Terry): Yeah, this was a few years ago. I think it was for; I think referral for Boys and Girls. I can't remember if that was the charity or not, but yes, he actually repelled off the side of the hotel here downtown.
(Skyler): Holy cow.
(Terry): To raise some money. So yeah, we've got some definite dedication here.
(Skyler): That's the innovation I'm talking about! Coming up with creative ideas to help benefit the community.
(Terry): Yeah. I don't know that I would have done that, but same here. I work with horses. I can work with horses.
(Skyler): Right.
(Terry): Horses and kids.
(Skyler): Take your passion. Take what you know and use it to benefit your community.
(Terry): Maybe that's the last word. For all of us at CMBA and anyone else listening to the podcast. Just take what you're passionate about. There's always some organization available in your community where you can put your skills and your passion to use. And again, it helps your community. And I will say it feels good. You will feel good yourself for making those contributions. I've never regretted a single minute of any of my involvements because of what it's done for the community. And I get to feel good about it also.
(Skyler): Yeah, absolutely.
(Skyler): I think that is a good way to end things. If you're out there and you're looking for a way to benefit your community. What are you passionate about? And follow that. Find something that fits with that.
(Terry): Find something that aligns with what you believe in, and you will not regret it.
(Skyler): You will not regret it. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Terry, for being on the podcast and sharing your passion for community involvement, community engagement, and we hope that everybody listening takes that seriously and goes after that initiative.
(Terry): Yeah. Thank you, Skyler.
(Skyler): Absolutely.
(Skyler): If you'd like to find out more about the Laying the Foundation podcast, you can head over to any podcast streaming platform, such as Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, and others. You can also find out more about CMBA architects through social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Additionally, you can head over to the CMBA website at cmbarchitects.com. If you're an architecture or design professional or an intern looking for an internship within those fields, please be sure to check out our website and click on the Careers tab to find out more about what opportunities we offer. This has been another episode of the Laying the Foundation podcast. We'll see you next time.