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BUSINESS NEWS WARE MALCOMB OPENS NEW OFFICE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Ware Malcomb , an award- winning international design firm, announced the opening of a new office in Washington, D.C., bringing the total number of Ware Malcomb offices across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Panama to 24. Founded in 1972, the firm provides planning, architecture, interior design, branding, and civil engineering services for commercial real estate and corporate clients. The newest Ware Malcomb office is located at 1301 K Street NW in Washington, D.C. The firm has completed more than 100 projects in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area including Virginia and Maryland, for clients including Medline, Xfinity, and Alston Construction, among many others. “We are pleased to announce the opening of Ware Malcomb’s 24th office in North America, located in our nation’s capital,” said Lawrence Armstrong, CEO of Ware Malcomb. “We look forward to leveraging existing Ware Malcomb relationships as well as building new ones in this vibrant and important market.” Ware Malcomb also announced Michael Christensen joined the firm as regional director to lead the new Washington, D.C. office. In this role, Christensen will be responsible for the overall growth and management of the firm’s operations in the region. “We are excited to welcome Mike to the Ware Malcomb team,” said Kenneth Wink, executive vice president of Ware Malcomb. “With tremendous talent in both business
development and design, he is the ideal choice to build and lead our Washington, D.C. team and oversee projects in the region.” Christensen brings more than 17 years of interior design experience to his new role at Ware Malcomb. His unique background ranges from serving as in-house design manager for large retailers to designing interiors for multi-family projects. He has worked on projects across the United States, as well as internationally. Ware Malcomb is an international design firm providing planning, architecture, interior design, branding, and civil engineering services to commercial real estate and corporate clients. The firm specializes in the design of commercial office, corporate, industrial, science and technology, healthcare, retail, auto, public/educational facilities, and renovation projects. CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED ON WHITTLE SCHOOL & STUDIOS SHENZHEN CAMPUS MAIN BUILDING In June, a ceremony took place to mark the end of construction on the main building at Whittle School & Studios Shenzhen Campus in Qianhai. Over the coming months, the building’s interior will be decorated, furnished, and prepared to welcome the first cohort of Whittle students this fall. Chairman and CEO of the school Chris Whittle, Vice-Chairman and President Ian Thomas, Vice-Chairman and Chancellor Nick Dirks, and all the members of the Shenzhen Campus preparatory team attended the ceremony. In a speech given at the ceremony, Whittle
highlighted the strategic positioning of the campus: “Qianhai is situated in the core of the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. Our school will therefore be surrounded by the best institutions in the world,” he said. “This school will, in turn, inject further vitality into the region, by building the Qianhai International Science and Education Center, internationalizing the environment, and contributing to improved quality of life here.” The Shenzhen campus was designed by the renowned architecture firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop . Piano, whose work includes the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Shard in London, and the Centre George Pompidou in Paris, is a recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The structure of the Shenzhen campus is based on the core concept of design for learning, focusing on students’ actual educational needs and experiences. With an emphasis on good ventilation, abundant natural light, and generous public spaces, the campus is aligned with Whittle School & Studios’ modern approach to education. Whittle School & Studios is committed to providing the highest-quality education for students and their families, and to creating an inclusive, motivated, accomplished community. Whittle School & Studios Shenzhen Campus opens its doors to students in September, at the same time as the Washington, D.C. Campus, an existing structure that is in the final phases of renovation, also being supervised by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
IMPROVE AND GROW, from page 7
the ownership model, put J2 on the path to a prosperous future. Biggest pitfall? Postponing OT planning. Start working on it now and give yourself time to work through it. TZL: You want high utilization for profitability, but that means employees are fully loaded with assignments. How do you balance growth, utilization, new clients, and new hires? JG: We focus more on profitability rather than utilization. We emphasize working smarter and efficiently to provide our clients with an excellent product. Having adequate staffing is critical to handle the workload and supports our efficient practice. TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? JG: Learn from the mistakes and move on. You’ll get better with each lesson learned. It’s important to know how to cope with failure and to bounce back. TZL: In one word or phrase, what do you describe as your number one job responsibility as CEO? JG: Facilitator – create an environment where people can be successful.
JG: We follow net service revenue closely, and we’re looking to double our 2018 NSR by 2023. I recently attended Zweig Group’s financial management seminar, Learn the Language of Business, and it gave me valuable insight that will help us implement open-book management. We’ve set up widgets in our accounting software to provide our managers with information to track the financial performance of their projects and the overall company. The next step is to implement the open- book management approach for the entire company. “We are working to foster an environment where staff will want to become owners. We believe a clear path to ownership puts J2 on the path to a prosperous future.” TZL: Ownership transition can be tricky, to say the least. What’s the key to ensuring a smooth passing of the baton? What’s the biggest pitfall to avoid? JG: We are working to foster an environment where staff will want to become owners. We believe a clear path to ownership, along with implementing the second phase of
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THE ZWEIG LETTER September 30, 2019, ISSUE 1314
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