In this episode of Laying the Foundation, we sit down with Brian Crichton, the CEO of CMBA Architects, to discuss the company's history, growth, and evolving culture. Brian shares insights into the founding of CMBA Architects, the key factors that drove its early success, and the strategies that have fueled its continued growth.
Stream Now
Episode Transcript
(Skyler): Welcome to another episode of Laying the Foundation.
(Skyler): All right, welcome back everybody to another episode of Laying the Foundation. Definitely, a different kind of special series that we're going toa be doing, alongside our CEO and the head of CMBA Architects, Brian, who's in office with me. Yeah, it's.
(Brian): How are you today, Skyler?
(Skyler): I'm doing great. I'm doing great. And it's great to have you back on the show again.
(Brian): It's been a little while. It has been a little while to get back in the swing of things there.
(Skyler): Well, thankfully we made a very special mini-series just for you. Nice to talk about some aspects of CMBA and you know, what we're doing and how we're developing and things along those lines. And that's what we're here for.
(Brian): That's good. I'm excited.
(Skyler): All right, well we'll jump into it the first episode of course. And it's a good place to start, I think. And that is talking about CBA's history and our growth over the years.
(Skyler): So I think in the, in the spirit of things starting from the beginning, what, what did the early days of CMBA look like?
(Brian): Wow, that's so you're taxing my brain. And first off, I am not that old to know exactly.
(Skyler): You’re not.
(Brian): I know that was the implication there.
(Skyler): No, not at all.
(Brian): So I am not the exact historian, but I will tell you what I know. so back in 1963 or 62. Ish. Right at the end, somewhere in that range, Jim, Duffy, who was the father of our firm, decided to leave a firm here in town. It was called Boutler, Boiler and Arnold. I think at the time. I'd have to look that up for sure. But he was with that firm doing work and just decided to do it on his own. His structural engineering background and back then design, education and engineering education were sort of intertwined.
(Skyler): Sure.
(Brian): so yeah. I think they had an architectural engineering and then he had structural engineering as well.
(Skyler): Gotcha.
(Brian): But he could do both. He just was that, that talented. So he decided to go out on his own, start his own firm and continued to do the work, similar work to what he had been doing with Boiler. I know he did several churches here in the area. he also did ah, a little bit of hospital work here or there, but a lot of commercial type work. Ok. and that's how it started. So from that time until I think in the late 60s, early 70s. So Jim Brygger came on the scene. I don't know if there's anybody in before that. I think Jim Duffy operated somewhat, maybe had a draftsman or like that. But Jim Brygger came to the firm. He was a Vietnam vet. came back from that and joined the firm. And he's the B in our name. I know. and he's been highlighted a couple times in a few videos and whatnot. He's a good, good friend. I have breakfast with Jim. Try, to do it at least monthly. Just, depends on schedules and whatnot.
(Skyler): and he stops into the office every once.
(Brian): Absolutely. Yeah. We. He's working as an owner's rep, so it's good to see Jim. Yeah, absolutely. so Jim Duffy and Jim Brygger Jim was a popular name back then because then a third Jim joined.
(Skyler): No.
(Brian): Jim Ruble. Wow. Yes. That would have been, I think 74. 70, 73, 74 if I remember right. and then it kind of evolved over time like any other firm with people and names and places. Sioux City was where they were based. They went up to Yankton on for a short time with Glenn Manus was an architect up there. And that firm is still going. I think a daughter of Glenn's was that firm. Very cool. I don't know anything about them, but I just. At least I know that. But various people came and went, over time. Owen Mamura was a partner, came I think in the late 70s, 78, 79, somewhere in that range. and Todd Moss joined late 80s I believe. and so that was sort of the firm that first, what, probably 20ish years. 20 to 30 years, I guess. And then in, early 2000, we were introduced to a firm, through a funny way actually, to an architect from our company and an architect from this other company out in grand island went on a trip, to a window manufacturer. The manufacturer took them to see their plant and see their products and they got to talking. These two people from the firms got to talking and realize that, you know, our firms are a lot alike. Like there's some synergies here, you know. And they did similar project types to what we did and actually did maybe a little more education than we did on the healthcare side and just thought it really sounded like a good idea. And Jim Cannon, the C in our name. Jim Cannon, another Jim.
(Skyler): Oh my goodness.
(Brian): He had started his firm in 1972 and just was operating out in central Nebraska. And it was the Canon firm is sort of the name that I remember at least. Brad Kissler and Jim Brisnehan telling me about. was well known for doing great work, solid work, good architectural work. And those two architects came back and told their firms, told the firms about each other and I think just a couple of calls started. I joined the firm in 01. So this is right ahead of me joining firm. This was happening. And when I joined there was a separate company that bought Jim Cannon's firm. And it was Cannon, Moss Brygger and Associates. That was a separate firm from the one we were Ruble, Memura, Moss Brygger Architects and we were operating separately. Jim Cannon sold it to the. To Jim, Brygger and Todd Moss and the two guys out in Grand Island, Jim Brisnehan and Brad Kissler.
(Skyler): Which is another Jim to add to that.
(Brian): Exactly. Just keep adding Jims It was a popular name back then. and we were operating separately. Well the challenge with operating two firms separately underneath similar ownership was we had to pay each other for services. Right, you're a consultant for us, so I got to pay you for your time. And it just got really confusing. taxes. The guys were just like we're not doing this. So they merged the assets. merged the firms together. I think that was in late 2000, early 2001, about the time I joined. And then we became Canon Moss Brygger and Associates. Yeah. And that's our official name. Canon Moss Brygger and Associates. PC. Yes. And went. Operated that way for another few years. And we were slowly doing work, and had to some extent mending work at the lakes area. Oh yeah, Iowa. Ah, Great Lakes. And there was a firm up there, Architects collaborative. We knew about them. They were about six people I think at the time. And we were like, well, does it make sense to have an office up by Okoboji and Spencer and Spirit Lake We were doing work in a few different things up there and we thought, you know, probably makes sense. And so we contacted them, and they had a couple of partners that were getting close to retiring as well. And that's what happens in business like this.
(Skyler): Yeah.
(Brian): Especially in professional services where you've got partners that start a firm. An owner that starts a firm, goes about doing his business, you know, running it well. And then over time they're like, hey, I'm looking at retirement in a few years. Who's going to buy this? Is anybody internally or externally, can I sell the firm? And that's what happens typically in a professional services frau. How does it transition? Well, there's an internal buyer or an external. And we were. We bought architects collaborative in 06, 2006.
(Skyler): Sure.
(Brian): So we then had a Spencer office and again, just growth opportunities. We are always thinking about, okay, what makes sense. We didn't want to go into big markets.
(Skyler): Right.
(Brian): Because there's a lot of fish in the sea. Right. A lot of big sharks in those big off. Big, Big, metro areas like Des Moines or Omaha.
(Skyler): Sure.
(Brian): So we kind of operated in, in the smaller markets like we had for a long time. From 06 to really 19 to 2014, early 15. And we thought, you know, just because we were growing, we were about 40, maybe early low 40s. For numbers of people at the time, to be better known in the state of Iowa, to continue to do good work across the state. We need to be in Des Moines. We need to have a presence in Des Moines, the capital of Iowa Exactly. That's where everything the Golden Circle as they say That's right, right. I love my friends from Des Moines, but they think that we're in South Dakota here in Sioux City just because we're north. Wow. A little bit. Yes. But we thought, okay, let's look at opportunities. And at the time, Todd Moss, the M in our name. Todd Moss. knew Rob Smith at architect Smith Metzger through the AIA architects, organization. And Rob and Daryl Metzger were starting to look at retirement again. Transitions. That's what causes these, sales, of firms they looked at. Okay. They did a lot of higher ed work, a lot of financial services work, banks and that type of thing.
(Skyler): Oh, okay.
(Brian): They didn't do hospitals, they didn't do K12. They did, higher ed, which we had been doing. So there's a little bit of synergy but also a diversification of portfolio. Right. Thinking about how what they could do could bring stuff to us and them. Us to them as well. Location mattered. Absolutely. So in 15, we, ended up buying that firm from those guys. They came on board as partners at that point and then ultimately retired a few years later. Omaha came about because we had a staff member that needed to stay in that area. So we opened a little Omaha office. now we're up to four people down there. and you know, we're continuing to look at opportunities, strategic opportunities. We're not just going to plant somebody. Just to plant somebody. No, no. You know, is there a market that we can serve, you know, our healthcare, higher ed K12 and now municipal is a fourth leg, and government, you know, that type of thing. Are there opportunities there to serve clients like that? So that's how we think about it. Yeah. We look for opportunities. But over time it was guys talking to different people, and going hey, what are you going to do with your firm? Huh, well we might be interested. And it ends up having a conversation and going down the path.
(Skyler): I mean it's the power of networking.
(Brian): It is you show up and you.
(Skyler): Meet somebody and you talk to them for a little bit, and you find out that they have some needs that you can fill and so on and so forth and you end up with these cool opportunities.
(Brian): Yeah.
(Skyler): So with the mergers and with the buyouts and things like that, I mean what kind of challenges arose along the way? Because that's a big, that's a big change. Getting new employees that were from this old firm and changing policies and different cultures kind of all combining.
(Brian): Yes. And I was not really involved in the first grand island or Spencer. I was, I was a partner in the Spencer one. But not like involved in the day-to-day operations that ah. so. But in the Architect Smith Metzger. One in 15. I had become CEO January of 15 and we finished that purchase in July of 15. And there's a lot that goes involved that people probably don't think about from. Oh yeah. A culture perspective. Right. how did we operate that offices are hours the same. How do we do timesheets? How do we, what policies do we have? What did they have? Do they have an employee manual? Like we have a decent employee manual. Did they even have one? A real small one. A real small one.
(Skyler): How do those things differ? And how do we make sure that everybody's still happy? You don't want to take something away necessarily that they were like wow, we really made a lot of use out of that.
(Brian): Right.
(Skyler): You know.
(Brian): Yeah. And besides geographic u, distance. Right. Two and a half, three hours away. Right. U there's differences in the way in which the businesses were run. So we have to understand how they ran their business, how we run our business and then go is there some ways that we can tweak overall and learn from each other? And bring the best of both worlds.
(Skyler): Absolutely.
(Brian): It takes time. It takes time. It takes investment for whoever's leading this effort to go to those locations. Build trust and respect of the potential staff members, coming on board because they don't know us, we don't know them. They don't know if we're gonna decide to downsize and not have some people. And that's a fear. Right. So it's coming in right away. You have to say, hey, everybody's good. Our plan is to, yeah, we're changing the name. We're, we're going to bring some different ideas to the table for you to get better potentially and for us to learn from you to be better.
(Skyler): Yes.
(Brian): But we're going to keep pressing forward. Right. We want to grow with you and continue to build this office. And that's, that's really the message that I had for the, the Des Moines people.
(Skyler): Yeah.
(Brian): Was hey, you guys have a great thing going. We want to continue that. And how do we do that? I want to do that with you and not come in and just beat you over the head. But you got to do this. Exactly.
(Skyler): It's our way or the highway.
(Brian): You know, this is a teamwork, this is a team effort. That's really what it's about.
(Skyler): So what about with the sectors? When do you decide, you know, we're going to implement a new sector? Because like you said, we're looking into municipal and I know that was something that you and I had talked about in the past and the different elements of that, like when do you know that now is the time to implement something like that?
(Brian): I think, you know, you look at our sectors, the three that we had served and promoted, right? That's the ones we promoted. those are clients that are, I'll put this in quotes, institutional clients. Right. Long term, maybe multiple facilities, always going to have a need for improvement of their organization or their facilities. So those are the clients we'd like to have as our bread and butter. So it's not a one off scenario of doing a, you know, a certain office building for a client that we may never do work again for, for 30 years. We would like that ongoing relationship. So when we looked at our portfolio, one of the things that stuck out to us is we've done a lot of work with County. I'm going to say I'm going to call them maintenance sheds to some extent. O County maintenance departments, road departments, even city facilities, like fire departments, those types of things. some libraries, not as many on that side, but more of those. Those services that every city has, every county has and why not try to play on that, that strength, those skills that we've developed. Right. So we just Needed to catalog at all. Right. We hadn't really kept track of it. And some, not me, but some architects will say that's not glamorous stuff. That's not the cool architecture that we want to do. Really. Some will because it's. Some are higher design. You know, architects, sure. I like to do projects that affect people and places. Right. Absolutely every day. How can I affect, someone coming in to do their work better to serve others better to do. To make the community better. And those buildings matter. Yeah, those types of buildings. Police stations.
(Skyler): I was going to say you were just talking about fire stations, police stations.
(Brian): I mean those, those matter every day so every day. Emeergency. City halls. Yeah. So we just needed to do a better job of cataloging all of that, making sure we had photography for all those projects, descriptions for all those projects, and then truly thinking about how do we, how do we differentiate ourselves from someone else that does that type of work? Right. Versus, you know, just doing it on the side scenario, you know, really, truly going all in on it.
(Skyler): Yeah.
(Brian): Yeah.
(Skyler): Well, I guess going off of that is kind of a final question here. Throughout the course of CMBA's history and growth, how happen have we kind of stood apart from the other competition you mentioned before? Kind of the big sharks and the big cities and things along those lines. And now we've kind of worked our way into some of those big cities with our Omaha office and our Des Moines office. How are we differentiating from those sharks?
(Brian): Yeah, it's tough. It really is. I think for us it's got to be the people. And most firms will say that it's the people because that's who does it is. Yeah, but how do we respond to situations? How do we respond to clients? When you get into a big firm, you're a number, I'm going to say, you know, you're an employee of 400 people. On doing a product, there isn't a personal connection sometimes with a client or your teammates. And to us it's, it's that relationship that we want to build with our clients. A long-term relationship. Like I can call Marty Guthmill or up at Orange City, and say, hey Marty, what's, you know, where did you go hunting last week? I didn't have that conversation. some firms, because they're so large, they don't have that personal connection. Right. They just don't feel like they can talk at that level or don't have the time to do that either. And we invest that Time to truly understand the client. Yes. They're building that they're wanting to do, but truly the client and the motivations. Yes. And I think that's what separates us is our care and our willingness to really ask those questions about who they are as people.
(Skyler): Absolutely. that difference between the connection of. Yeah, like you said, I can call you up and ask you about you, your personal life, because we're on that level, you know, we're friends versus exactly. The big firms, which might have, like, you know, five clients that they might have that level of a relationship with those five, but that's because they're the ones spending the most money or whatever the case, you know, versus all the other clients that they work with. And I know our architects for sure, just have, like, these really close connections. And it might not be you, Brian, calling each one of these people.
(Brian): Right.
(Skyler): But they will.
(Brian): Yeah, absolutely. Lee. I know many of them. Or Terry or Courtney. I mean, you just go down the list of people that. That you could ask anything about their clients, and they're going to know some personal information about them because they've taken the time to get to know them as people.
(Skyler): Yes.
(Brian): That's really what it's about.
(Skyler): Sometimes it creates a little bit of a challenge on my end because I'll be talking to them about a project that they need something for, and they're like, oh, yeah, if you could get something for so and so. And I'm like, I don't know who that is.
(Brian): Yeah.
(Skyler): And they're like, oh, yeah, he's with this organization. I'm like, oh, yeah, that project. Okay, absolutely. Just because I don't get to usually meet with these people, but, yeah, no, that's awesome. That's awesome. Well, thank you, Brian, for giving us a rundown of the company culture as a whole, and then how we've grown over the years, some of the various trends that we've gone into and how we've ended up where we are today.
(Brian): No, it's been fun. Thank you for having me. I appreciate that. It's always good to kind of look back. Yes. At where we came from, Reflections, but also think about where we're headed. So's always good.
(Skyler): And we do have some pretty big plans for the future, which is,
(Brian): That's what we're working on every day.
(Skyler): Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Brian.
(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 ah@cbaarchitects.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.
Tags:
January 9, 2025