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8 direction that focused on America’s 21st century future, not its 20th century past.” The authors’ white paper argued for a strategy to recapture America’s greatness at home and abroad by elevating sustainability as a national strategic imperative. After leaving government, Puck, along with co- authors Patrick Doherty and Joel Makower, extended their research and strategies into this book. A fundamental premise and the subject of the book’s Part II, “Three Pools of Demand,” is a focus on walkable communities, regenerative agriculture, and resource productivity. You may now be starting to understand how we ended up in such a long conversation. The book follows very closely our direction for West 2nd District here in Reno (west2nddistric.com) which I’ve written about in previous blogs. Puck and I, along with co-author Patrick Doherty, decided we needed to have an extended conversation in Reno with our team to find more ways in which we could work together. This took place January 17. By the time the day ended, we all agreed it was the most directly-applicable discussion any of us had experienced. Puck and partners are now raising a fund for lending within projects that further their premises for steering a better course for America, including home mortgages that favor sustainably planned and executed communities along with capital for streetcar and light rail mobility. Their research and examples fortify the fundamental changes that are coming in the way millennials, the dominant generation of our time, are going to want to live, and why. “Puck and I, along with co-author Patrick Doherty, decided we needed to have an extended conversation in Reno with our team to find more ways in which we could work together.” ED FRIEDRICHS, from page 5

found this impressive. I tend to focus on books in this domain that have been supported by academic research. But the research in this book is as good as I’ve ever experienced, with more than ample explicit resources supporting their strategies and a bibliography that can easily draw the reader more deeply into any one of the specific strategies that the authors explore. “Puck and partners are now raising a fund for lending within projects that further their premises for steering a better course for America, including home mortgages that favor sustainably planned and executed communities along with capital for streetcar and light rail mobility.” Part III of the book takes the reader beyond planning and place-making to how to pay for this, described through excellent sections on “Capital and Stranded Assets,” “A Business Plan for America,” and “Waiting on Washington.” I found the closing sections of the book, “Not Waiting on Washington,” and “We the People,” the most provocative and compelling chapters. I learned what we’re doing here in Reno is not so crazy after all. I came away with a strong desire to highly recommend this book to anyone involved with community building – planners, architects, engineers, city councils, planning commissions, city staffs, and, most importantly, legislators and leaders at the state and federal levels. I’d say to them: Here’s your instruction manual and your grand strategy to propel our communities to greatness. Let’s go for it! ED FRIEDRICHS, FAIA, FIIDA, is a consultant with Zweig Group and the former CEO and president of Gensler. Contact him at efriedrichs@ zweiggroup.com. members with access to resources across all offices as well as a dynamic internal information system for knowledge share. TZL: What’s your prediction for 2017 and for the next five years? TM: Bullish; we’re optimistic about continued expansion in the U.S. real estate market. “Once we win a contract, our mission is to go in and overserve clients from day one. We don’t necessarily go after jobs; we pursue work with clients who we can develop long-term relationships with, and we accomplish this through overserving.”

Puck had personally done the extended research, and I

CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

TM: Effective ownership transition is all about aligning cul- tures. We strive to merge with companies that have like- minded owners, which typically drives compatible cultures. All other logistics can be worked out; in other words, it’s 100 percent about culture matches. TZL: Once you’ve won a contract, what are the “marching orders” for your PMs? TM: Once we win a contract, our mission is to go in and overserve clients from day one. We don’t necessarily go after jobs; we pursue work with clients who we can devel- op long-term relationships with, and we accomplish this through overserving. TZL: What has your firm done recently to upgrade its IT system? TM: We have built a national RTM cloud that provides team

THE ZWEIG LETTER March 6, 2017, ISSUE 1190

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