When I think about the incredible journey of Clayco, one name stands out—Russ Burns. His ability to turn ambitious ideas into reality, lead with compassion, and bring out the best in people has shaped this company in ways I’ll forever be grateful for.
I’m thrilled to share that Clayco has officially completed the final concrete pour for Shorehaven, the first phase of the South Pier master-planned community in Tempe, Arizona.
At Clayco, safety is personal. Every time an employee gets hurt on one of our jobs—whether it’s a scratch, a pinched finger, or something more serious—I treat it as if it happened to a member of my own family. In fact, everyone at Clayco is family.
Clayco and our integrated partners are helping the CTA strengthen its operations in Chicago’s West Garfield Park with a new 150,000-square-foot facility.
My first job was stamping cans at a little grocery market in exchange for candy at about 10 years old. The concept of earning was an early instinct of mine.
During my teen years, I had a car wash on my home driveway, after which I started doing small painting and odd jobs at neighbors’ homes for extra money, but mainly to avoid mowing my own yard by paying the kid down the street to do it. I could make more money doing the other jobs, which allowed me to pay him very little to do something I didn’t want to do that was much more time-consuming. Looking back, that was an entrepreneurial experience.