Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce the launch of its Construction Academy, a comprehensive, industry-based knowledge center that seeks to foster learning, create interactions, and build value for its participants.
Husch Blackwell is responsible for the programming and administration of the Construction & Design Academy, which aims to include diverse voices and stakeholders including business leaders from the construction, design, engineering, development and project funding fields, as well as trade associations, universities, and policymakers. Organizations in construction and allied industries collectively contribute over $650 billion to the U.S. economy and employ over 10 million people.
The Construction Academy represents the formalization of an initiative Husch Blackwell has forwarded for several years in which key members of the firm’s Construction & Design practice group provided timely perspectives on a variety of legal and operational topics, often in conjunction with clients and industry participants. Recent industry trends of note have included the evolution of technology adoption across the construction industry, the boom in pre-fab and modular design/build techniques, the rise of the WELL building standard, and the evolution of vertical public-private partnership (P3) projects.
“Construction and design projects are inherently complex—and becoming more so,” said Joshua Levy, co-leader of Husch Blackwell’s Construction & Design practice group. “Our aim here is to gather together the very smart people in our industry in order to break down that complexity and to derive real-world insights that people can use to move projects forward.”
A key component of the Construction Academy is the participation of leaders and companies involved in the industry in order to develop solutions that address challenges on both the local and national level. Dan Fitzgerald, CEO and President of Horizon Construction Group, Inc., has noted Husch Blackwell’s ability to foster this unique industry-wide conversation.
“We are a national development, construction and property management firm that performs projects in as many as five states at any given time,” said Fitzgerald. “Husch Blackwell has helped us grow by providing excellent services in every area from entitlements, financing, acquisitions, contract drafting and dispute resolution. Their Construction and Design Group has a depth of industry knowledge that gives us the confidence we need to pursue any opportunity in any state.”
Husch Blackwell’s Construction & Design practice team is one of the largest in the country. In June 2019, Construction Executive magazine ranked Husch Blackwell among its Top 50 Construction Law Firms. The firm ranked 12th overall when measured by construction industry-dedicated attorney headcount.
“Now is a particularly apt moment to introduce our Academy. The industry is experiencing tremendous change—both in depth and speed—in terms of how projects are designed, built and financed,” said Eric Meier, co-chair of the Construction Academy. “Our team is well situated to lead the conversation on how these changes will play out across the industry.”