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I ran a marathon a few weeks ago.  Here are three life lessons I learned.

“I signed up to run a marathon in February”, I told my brother and business partner last fall during the 2020.  My brother, who has run marathons before, including Boston, thought this over for a bit.  Then he told me it will be hard to do marathon training in Boise in February.  Are you sure you are up for that? 

As it turns out I was up for it.  A few weeks ago I completed the Red Rock marathon in the desert outside of Las Vegas.  Here are some of the lessons I learned.

Lesson 1. You can accomplish great things, but you’ll likely have to give something up. 

This is as true for marathons as it is for about anything in life.  For me I gave up a few things—among them sleep, warmth, and comfort.  My training schedule required me to run a 20-mile run on February 6; it’s just not warm at that time of year.  I ran 20 miles in 20 degrees; it was cold.  Another morning it had snowed six inches at night.  I somehow convinced my brother to come out with me at 5am to run the foot hills with me.  I told him it would be fun.  He actually showed up and we ran six miles in the foothills in six inches of snow.  About two minutes into the running with snow stinging the skin between our socks and our tights, he told me.  “You know what, this isn’t very fun”.  By the end we both agreed it actually was fun and were glad we had not turned back earlier. 

Is there something big you would like to accomplish in life?  That’s great.  Start thinking about what you might have to give up in order to get it—because that’s how life works. 

Lesson 2.  You can probably do more than you think you can. 

I can clearly remember 10 years ago I did a little bit of running because my wife coerced me into running a triathlon with her.  I was a sprinter in high school but had never liked distance running.  Coaxed by my wife to run a triathlon with her, I thought I would give it a try.  I recall running about 2 miles one afternoon and thinking, “Why would anybody willingly do this? Running is the worst.”  My feet hurt, I was overheated, and I couldn’t breathe.  During the triathlon (in Emmett Idaho) I clearly remember being humiliated as a 90-year old man passed me on the running portion while my family cheered for me with confusion on their faces.  They were wondering why I was letting the 90-year-old pass me.  I hadn’t prepared properly, I didn’t like running, and I was seriously questioning my life’s choices at that moment.

Fast forward a decade.    

I was able to complete an extremely challenging 26.6 mile race that included 13 miles of uphill running.  I ran for 4 hours and 35 minutes to complete the race, something I hadn’t ever dreamed was remotely possible. 

The truth is we as humans can oftentimes do much more than we think is possible.  We can be our own worst enemy because we impose limits on ourselves.  We tell ourselves how far we can run, how much money we can make, what projects we are capable of accomplishing, etc.  My high school wrestling coach used to tell us “whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right”.  Just as we can be our own worst enemy, we can also be our own motivation.  Take a moment and dream big, you can probably accomplish more than you think you can.

Lesson 3.  Commit. 

I committed to running a marathon six months in advance of the actual event.  This was important for two reasons.  First of all, I needed the time to prepare my body to be able to handle the 26.6 miles of continuous running.  Second, due to Covid there was a limited number of seats available for the marathon.  The race did run in person but as it turns out the government limited the race organizers to 25% capacity.  Anybody who tried to get in less than three months in advance was locked out.  I got to run the race because I committed early.  Looking back on how hard it was, I don’t know if I could have finished a marathon if I wasn’t running in an actual event where there are people cheering and providing support along the way.

Do you have something important to you?  Commit early, make a plan and go for it.  Don’t half commit, it’s too easy to get out when things get hard.  And if I have learned anything during my 43 years of life, it’s that nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy.  If it’s worth accomplishing, it’s going to get hard at some point.  Just remember these three things (and you can accomplish anything):

1. You’re going to have to give something up
2. You can do more than you think you can
3. Commit early    

Scott Galloway

President & Newly Minted Marathoner

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As the exciting new PetIQ Headquarters rises in Eagle, president of OEC, Scott Galloway, sat down with the president of Cole Architects, Matt Huffield, to discuss the project. Cole Architects was the designer of the new building and has been working with OEC to outfit the completed space with an exceptional lineup of OEC office solutions. Huffield shares about his experiences in architecture, his advice for aspiring architects, and what the firm is currently up to in Idaho.

Becoming An Architect

Galloway: Tell me a little bit about how you got interested in being an architect?

Huffield: Probably exposure. When I was a kid, two of my friends, one kid’s mom and another guy’s dad, were architects. I think going through school, I realized that the aptitude was there. You do all those aptitude tests and architect was always at the top. I think there was definitely an interest with the built environment and structures and how they go together. Every little kid is playing with Legos or those kinds of things and I think it’s just the exposure from seeing my friend’s parents, with drafting boards in their houses and things like that, back before we had AutoCAD, and Revit. Then finding an interest in it and continuing to pursue it. I told my mom when I was 10, that I was going to be an architect.

Galloway: Oh, wow. You determined that a long time ago?

Huffield: Yeah, my mom said something like, “Oh, yeah. Okay, next week, it’ll be a firefighter,” but I just went all the way through, and it has always been enjoyable. It seems, my brain works well for that kind of work that we do. I have a vision that I think suits well with the industry and dealing with the built environment.

What Makes A Good Architect

Galloway: For the youth that are interested in being architects, what skill sets, or interests or mindsets do you think are useful or may indicate to somebody “Hey, this may be a good fit. This may be a good career choice for you?”

Huffield: I think problem solving is number one, I work with the Montana State School of Architecture on their Advisory Council. And I continually work with their staff in dealing with design and problem solving as the criteria. A lot of schools out there are trying to promote the software, and I have this vision that I think the next 50 years, the software is going to almost be irrelevant. You know, 30 years ago, we were hand drafting, now we’re doing 3d modeling. The next 20 or 30 years we’re going to have some sort of headset on, and the software is going to be doing all the work in the background, and you don’t draw anymore. I think it’s going to be that much of a connection with the software that learning a piece of software is not the important part.

I think the important part is learning how to design and problem solve and be creative. As we automate our world, creativity is going to be one of the last things that is automated, it’s the one thing that a computer can’t do, or will be one of the last things that a computer can do. And so, focusing on the creative side of what we do is going to be the value in architecture in the coming years. The nice thing about the industry is there is a broad range of what a person can do, whether it’s the technical figuring out a detail or the design side. And so, for somebody who is looking at the industry, I think there’s always a place for somebody in our industry.

Finding Talent

Galloway: Where do you find your talent, and how many are on your teams?

Huffield: There’s 10 of us right now. Almost all licensed architects.” Our talent is random, a lot of times I’ll post on LinkedIn. I’ve worked for several companies that are really good working with and growing talent. I’ve worked with some that are horrible at it. And so I’ve learned ways and philosophies that I strongly believe in. We’re only as good as the people that work with us on our team. You’re only as strong as your weakest link. We spend a lot of time and focus, doing things right by our employees. This year, we were voted to the top 10 places to work in Idaho.

Galloway: Congratulations.  

Huffield: Thank you. It means a lot. We’re the only architect on that list. And that’s all-size categories, both honorable mention and award winners, which it means a lot because just this year, we switched over to an unlimited PTO policy. So, we do a lot of things like that, that try to give back to the employees that work hard.

Becoming An Owner

Galloway: Tell us a little bit about Cole architects and maybe how you came to be the owner?

Huffield: I have been self-employed since the early 2000s. Partnership in a couple of different firms. And through the recession, I ended up having to leave Boise to go find gainful employment,

Galloway: The 2008 recession?

Huffield: Yeah, and I was able to stick around till 2013. And then I left and went on a pretty fun journey. I lived in Houston, LA, and New York City, was able to work on some really cool projects, two of which have won national AIA awards.

So, I got to experience a lot from the high-end design firm, to a large 23,000 person firm. In 2016-17, I was kind of regrouping from all of that and the economy was starting to pick up. I ended up taking on some projects in Bend, Oregon, and was mostly working with consultants out of Boise (my old consulting group that I had before). I was spending a lot of time here and I had the opportunity to kind of live wherever I wanted to so chose to move back to Boise. Because of what happened in the recession, I feared everything is going to come crashing down again.

Diversifying

So, I spent a lot of time looking into ways to diversify what I was doing. And the opportunity came to purchase Stan’s firm. I had met Stan Cole a few times over the years. We kind of ran in the same circles but didn’t actually know each other. Then we got together and visited about it. He was at a point where he was ready to step back from day-to-day firm operations but still wanted involvement in design and business development, things like that. And so, it worked out really well for both of us. He gets to ski a few days a week and stay involved in projects and meeting with clients.

There were five people when I purchased firm and now we’re at 10-11 depending on the time of year. I think we’ve also been able to, take advantage of a little bit of the growth in Boise. We’ve got some great clients. I’ve had some really bad clients in the past so my goal is not necessarily focus on the project type that we do, but focus on good quality clients, people that treat us well and, and we enjoy working with.

The Right Clients For Cole Architects

Galloway: What kind of clients are a good fit for Cole?

Huffield: The ones that pay. Not only that, but it’s a respect thing. I’ve worked with clients that just have no respect for architects. And obviously, this is our profession, this is what drives us, this is what’s important to us. Ultimately, it comes down to, when a client respects you and enjoys working with you, they’re going to treat you better, they’re going to be more at ease to work with you and things like that. So, it’s finding that relationship, but so much of what we do is personal relationships.

I always tell people that about 95% of what architects do is communication, whether written, verbal drawings, etc; it’s all communication. Even a set of construction documents is in a way communication. So that’s a big part of what we try to do with our clients is spend a lot of time communicating with them, make sure everybody’s on the same page, and we know we’re moving toward the same goal.

Why Getting The Right Architect Is Important

Galloway: So why is it important for a client to choose a good architect? What, kind of difference does a good architect make in a project?

Huffield: I think it depends on the goals of the client. Certain clients want things done quickly and streamline everything. Other clients want the architect to do everything for them and be fully responsible for all of it. I think what makes a good architect is due diligence of researching, and putting together a good set of documents. This ensures that what the architect communicates and designs is constructed.

I think ultimately, as architects, it’s our ethical responsibility to improve the community, improve the built environment, do what’s right, both environmentally, etc. And our responsibility is not necessarily to the owner or to the architect, but to the project and to the to society as a whole. You want an architect that does the best for all of that. They don’t cut corners to just do what the client wants, or just do what the contractor wants.

Working On The Ronald McDonald House

Galloway: Can you give an example of a project that you’ve worked on where you enhanced the community? Explore the topic of doing what’s right not only for the client, but for the community.

Huffield: I would say probably the number one most recent project would be the Ronald McDonald House here in Boise. It was a very community focused project. They were able to do some really interesting things. They raised $15 million in 18 months to do that. We were able to work with the contractor and from start of design to opening doors was 15 months. That is relatively unheard of. It was a very fast pace. We all signed up for it ahead of time and said we’re going to get this done. And it took a lot of juggling to get that done. But it was very much a community involved process.

Working With Boise

We had to work with the East end neighborhood district and the north end neighborhood districts to make sure that we are going to put something in their neighborhoods that fit the urban fabric. The basic concept of that building was to do something that was home-like. I think that was very important to the owner too because they are housing people. So they want it to look like a home. Their previous house was an old house that they had upgraded. They wanted something that looked residential, but you’re putting it on Main Street, across from an urban hospital. It is also mixed in with a historic neighborhood.

Then working with the city of Boise, we went through their project management process to help streamline and get us through the process faster. We were setting roof trusses the week we got our building permit. So we were able to push the envelope on speed and time to get through the process. It was a really fun, interesting, and challenging experience to go through all of that in a very short time. And it took all team members and Ian Hoffman and Stan Cole was very much involved. Mindy from Ronald McDonald house too. We also helped them with furniture selection, interior design, everything. Our interior designer worked closely with the folks at Ronald McDonald House to go through everything in great detail.

Designing The PETIQ Headquarters

Galloway: Great project example. It’s beautiful. I think we did some wooden slats in the building. Our construction division did kind of the wooden parallel posts that are somewhere up there. So let’s talk about a little bit about kind of the big project in Eagle that you’ve been working on. Talk to us a little bit about that project.

Huffield: Yeah, PetIQ approached us very similarly to the Ronald McDonald house. They had a fast timeline and wanted to do something unique for Eagle. The owners are from Eagle, want to stay in Eagle, and are very involved in the community. They approached us about doing their new corporate headquarters, which is about 55,000 square feet at the final square footage. They had a site selected in the Eagle River business development. And they wanted to do something that was a little bit more contemporary, keeping the down-to-earth, Idaho thought process.

They gave us free reign to kind of do some designs and we came up with some concepts. We ended up with a design concept that they liked. They were willing to relocate outside Eagle to keep that design concept if Eagle wouldn’t let them in. There were a lot of negotiations with Eagle to get that design concept to work. We spent lots of time with Eagle River going through their design requirements to meet the standards for all parties.

What Makes PETIQ Unique

Galloway: Can you give us an example of the building that are different or unique?

Huffield: We had to go through a height variance with Eagle. They have a 35-foot height variance. They are trying to keep things shorter than a lot of communities to keep their small-town roots. We had some large overhangs but for Eagle’s design requirements you have to fit one of five styles. Contemporary isn’t one of them. They follow more of the Victorian era. With the long horizontal overhangs, it created some issues with their zoning ordinance. We were able to work with their design review council and get those resolved. We tried to provide a lot of glass and views and the brick shapes are more contemporary. Because of other projects built in the area they were able to stretch their requirements to meet our plans.

Galloway: What do you think the building will be finished?

Huffield: June of 2021.

Other Projects For Cole Architects

Galloway: What other projects are you working on that are important for your firm?

Huffield: Right now, we have under construction the new fire station for the city of Ketchum. We have a dentist office and work at Stillwater Development in Eagle. We are working with Horizon Credit Union, and a new office building we are getting ready to start in Eagle.

Galloway: To individuals interested in pursuing a career as an architect, what would you tell them about the industry?

Huffield: Every day is a little bit different. You get a lot of variety and I think creative industries tend to be a little more satisfying. I always looked at it as I don’t want to sit in a factory and stamp a piece of metal. I want to go have a little more flexibility in what I do and I think architecture provides that.

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“We feel it is critical to be stewards of society, to leave things better than we found them, and to create places that improve the built environment for all.” – Cole Architects Design Process Values.

With this strong statement, Cole Architects has accepted a great deal of responsibility and set a vision for the work it will do in the years to come. To learn more about this ambitious and commendable mission and how it is playing out in Idaho, we sat down with the president and managing partner of Cole Architects, Matt Huffield.

Huffield came to Cole Architects in a roundabout way. However, the detour made him the perfect leader for the 10-person architecture firm. After working on projects in Houston, LA, and NYC, Huffield wanted to create a strong, diverse foundation in Boise. That is when he met with Stan continues designing on a semi-retired basis.

Cole founded Cole Architects with the motivation to not only create functional and beautiful spaces but also pursue philanthropy. This altruistic mindset has guided the firm through many projects. They include government buildings, education, offices, light industrial, medical, retail hospitality, adaptive reuse, and mixed-use developments.

The Ronald McDonald House

One such philanthropic project Cole Architects recently finished is the Ronald McDonald House in downtown Boise. For years, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Idaho have been giving families of sick children a place to rest and refresh close to their hospitalized children. After raising 15 million dollars from the community in just 18 months, the charity brought in Cole Architects to design the new space. Cole Architects worked closely with the contractor to open the building in 15 short months. “It was a very fast-paced [project]; we all signed up for it ahead of time and said we’re going to get this done.”

The charity was previously functioning in an old house. Making the building feel like a home was very important to the owner. “We had to work with the east and north end neighborhood districts to make sure that we were going to put something in their neighborhoods that fit the urban fabric.”

PETIQ

Another unique project Cole Architects is currently working on is the new 55,000 s.f. headquarters for PetIQ in Eagle. Like the Ronald McDonald House, this building also has an aggressive timeline and will be unique for the area. It will wrap up in June of this year. However, working in Eagle has been challenging. Between its contemporary style, large overhangs, and three stories with a rooftop deck, the new building has undergone heavy negotiations to comply with local zoning ordinances and codes. 

Cole Architects embraced the challenge by clinging to their core principles. “As architects, it’s our ethical responsibility to improve the community, improve the built environment, and do what’s right environmentally, etc. Our responsibility is not necessarily to the owner or architect but to the project and society as a whole. “From the very beginning of the project, the owners have kept the Eagle community in mind. They grew up in the city and are very involved in the community. Creating something that would enhance the area they love was very important to them.

The reason Cole Architects were perfect for this particular project comes down to their problem-solving and creative skills. As Huffield says, “I think the important part is learning how to design, how to problem solve, and be creative. As we automate our world, creativity is going to be one of the last things that we automate. It’s the one thing that a computer can’t do. “That is why they have worked hard to build such a talented and dedicated, detail-oriented, and civic-minded staff.  Cole Architects continues to be successful because they understand the fundamental principle. “We are only as good as the people who work with us.”

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It’s time for an experience that’s fundamentally better

The pandemic has reshaped many aspects of our lives, including where and how people want to work. Their experiences working from home, and what they face when they return to the office, have influenced what they want and expect to see in the workplace going forward. The things they liked about their office before the crisis have become even more important, while the things that frustrated them will become an even bigger barrier if not addressed.

People have had vastly different experiences while working from home and learned from what they’ve been through. Those experiences shape their expectations for what they want work to be like in the future.

What People Need and Expect

To understand the impact the pandemic has had on what people need and expect in the office, Steelcase conducted research in 10 countries and engaged over 32,000 people in multiple studies. Synthesizing these studies uncovered five overarching needs that will drive macro shifts in the overall work experience and lead to new ways of planning and designing offices.

To Be Safe and Feel Safe

Offices never had to help mitigate the spread of disease, but people are now pandemic-aware. They will make decisions about where to work based on a new set of safety standards to help prevent transmission in the office, just as they expect safety standards for things like fires or tripping hazards.

New Health + Safety Priorities

73% Air quality
73% Adherence to safety protocols
72% Facility cleanliness
71% Physical distancing + boundaries
69% Density
66% Visitor protocols
59% Food and beverage safety

A Deeper Sense of Belonging

Feeling isolated while working from home is the biggest concern people identified in every country and their top reason to return to the office is to connect with co-workers. People want to feel a sense of belonging at work, which is not only good for their wellbeing but it also helps business results — feeling a strong sense of community is the top indicator of people’s productivity, engagement, innovation and commitment to the organization.

The top reasons people want to return to the office:
#1 Connect with colleagues
#2 Reconnect to the organization and shared purpose

To Be Productive

People’s desire to accomplish something meaningful, has only heightened during the crisis. While some experienced “panic productivity” in the early pandemic days, most simply want to be of value and feel their work has purpose. The most important things people want their workplace to support are very pragmatic.

Holistic Comfort

Pre-pandemic, 40%* of people said they needed to change postures frequently because of physical discomfort. During stay-at-home orders many people had to improvise and work from sofas, kitchen tables and even beds. Pain, distractions and stress have caused people to yearn for a broad interpretation of comfort, especially after such a disruptive time. They need the ability to work in a range of postures, change settings and to move throughout their day. They need a quiet, distraction free environment when they need to focus and to feel connected to their coworkers and the organization’s purpose.

Greater Control

People want options so they can choose where to work or to adapt spaces based on the task they’re doing or how they like to work personally. While some people feel working from home has allowed them to navigate their day and avoid distractions, nine of 10 countries rank a “quiet, professional environment” in their top five reasons for wanting to return to the workplace, suggesting that home is not always ideal for focus. Teams also need control over the level of privacy and the flexibility to move things around to best suit their work.

Macro Shifts In The work Experience

People’s expectations about their work experience changed during the pandemic. Living through a life-altering experience has caused many to think about what’s most important to them and to question assumptions about how work should happen. And leading organizations are listening. They see this moment as an opportunity to reinvent their policies, offices and overall work experience. This will lead to macro level shifts in four key areas.

Design Safer Workplaces

Seventy-three percent of U.S. employees* said their top concerns are air quality and adherence to safety protocols which means behavioral strategies, such as mask wearing and distancing, need to be augmented with changes to the built environment.

Organizations can make the workplace even safer by intentionally designing the built environment to help mitigate disease transmission. Understanding how pathogens move through an environment will help companies develop new systemic strategies to help prevent infections at work.

Design for Productivity

People’s desire to accomplish something meaningful, has only heightened during the crisis. Before the pandemic people were frustrated with workplaces that didn’t give them ways to control their privacy and do focused work. During the pandemic, working from home didn’t make that any better for many people: engagement declined 14% and productivity dropped 12% among employees who were unsatisfied with their work-from-home situation, especially the longer they did it.

The top three things people say they want from their office are all about being more productive: to collaborate with others effectively, easier access to tools and resources and the ability to focus. People want a better experience in which they can easily shift between group and solo work in both physical and digital environments.

Design to Inspire

People who have lived through a crisis want inspiration — they want to feel a part of something meaningful. The top two reasons people say they want to be back in the office are to connect with colleagues and feel a sense of shared purpose with the organization. These are both attributes of a strong community, along with trust, inclusivity and resilience. In turn, a strong community correlates with key business outcomes — engagement, productivity, innovation and retention. The workplace can intentionally foster meaningful interactions and signal that change and adaptation are part of the culture and something to be embraced.

Design for Flexibility

Historically designed for permanence, buildings and offices have been dominated by fixed architecture, power and furnishings. Going forward, organizations will offer more flexible work policies and they will need places that can adapt easily to the changes in where and how people work, and respond to changing business circumstances. Workplaces will need to embrace multi-use spaces that can support diverse types of activities. Furnishings will easily move to allow spaces to expand and contract as needed.

While living through a crisis has not been easy on anyone, it has caused people and organizations to think about our shared humanity and what we want to achieve together. We can use this moment as a catalyst for reinventing an office that is not just a container for work, but a place that creates a community where people can feel a renewed sense of belonging, resilience and purpose.

<sup>Source: Work Experience Diagnostic Study conducted in September 2020 in 10 countries. Data in this report represents U.S. participants.
* Steelcase Research conducted in the U.S. in 2019</sup>

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Idaho Central Credit Union has recently completed their new five-story, Member Service Center West building in Meridian, Idaho. To learn more about this exciting project and discuss the company’s growth, we interviewed ICCU’s CEO, Kent Oram. Below is the conversation between President of OEC, Scott Galloway, and Kent Oram.

Staying Open For Customers

Scott Galloway 

Thanks so much for carving out a little bit of time with us today. I wanted to start off just talking a little bit about ICCU in general and then talk a little bit about your new Member Service Center West. Tell me a little bit about what ICCU is up to today and maybe upcoming?

Kent Oram 

It has been an interesting year, 2020. During May and April, when branch lobbies were closed, that was a strange time for us. We’ve never done that before. Turns out though, our business has been really good all year long. Mortgage business is strong and auto lending is as strong as it can be with the restrictions on auto manufacturing. Then commercial lending is pretty good. So, a lot of deposit business and a lot of people that put money in their savings accounts. Maybe just kind of waiting a rainy day or something.

So our growth has been super strong during 2021. I thought it would be more of a down year, but it hasn’t been at all. We opened two branches this year and we plan to open four more during 2021. So we’re still betting on the branch model for a while to come in the future. One day maybe we’ll have to decide that we’re going to become a virtual credit union but I don’t see that in the next five to seven years for us. I think that we’ll continue to build branches for a while.

Scott Galloway

I know when other branches and banks were closed, you guys were open. I’ve noticed I can do tele-banking on the phone as well. Is that run out of the data center in Chubbuck?

Kent Oram

Yep. So all those transactions route through our data center in Chubbuck. Sometimes people say it’s better to be lucky than good. We built that data center during 2016-17-18 and kind of moved in, in 19. It has all sorts of electronic firepower. Then, just imagine how wonderful that was to have in March, April, and May when our transaction volume shifted dramatically to electronic. And there we were, with all that horsepower ready to go.

Scott Galloway 

It sure was nice as a customer to be able to have that as an option. And I was happy that the branch remained open. They were kind of the very beginning of the businesses masking up and it was really nice for them to be able to be in business. They [ the branches] just figured out how to do it safely so I know for me as a customer that made a pretty big difference.

Kent Oram 

Yeah, you know, a couple of things. On Tuesday of the 17th of March I said to my team “Over my dead body will we close any of our lobbies.” Then on March 18th at five o’clock it changed to, “Oh, wow, we’ve got to close our lobbies. We don’t know what’s coming.” So, things can change very quickly. With masks we were sort of at the forefront of that. If there are certain areas around cities or counties or health districts that are going to require masks, it’s just easier for us administratively to require masks everywhere in our system. We got some heartburn about that but we just explained to people it’s not for us; it’s not political at all. We’re just trying to stay open so we can help our you take care of your personal financial business.

The Member Service Center West

Scott Galloway 

Tell me a little bit about why you built the Member Service Center West. What important role does that building play within the strategic plan of the organization?

Kent Oram 

We have a big data center and a big corporate presence in Bannock County which is our home. It is our corporate center. We knew we had all sorts of people spread all over the place in different offices in the Treasure Valley and we thought that there’d be some synergies if we could bring those folks together. I had been looking for property to build something like that for quite some time and ran across the property that was owned by the Elks Lodge for a rehabilitation hospital that then did not come to fruition. So, I bought that property, and in cooperation with the BVA and Tommy Ahlquist, and his team, we were able to get our building built there.

It has been something on our horizon for probably five to seven years and I knew one day it would come together. It was probably a couple years quicker than I thought it might but that’s okay. Now we’ve been able to centralize our back office kinds of folks into that building in the Treasure Valley and for us it’s kind of just an outreach for what we do out of our Chubbuck campus. For example, we have 30 or so seats for call center in North Idaho. We have about 130 seats, we could fill here and Chubbuck. Then we have about 100-125 maybe at our new building in Meridian. As we continue to grow, we’ll stop hiring as many folks in Chubbuck and start hiring more folks in Treasure Valley, and kind of balance all that out.

So that’s one of the primary reasons that we built it, partially for a call center outreach. Then we brought together our mortgage teams and our private client teams, our investment teams, business, deposits, and commercial lending. A lot of people who were spread all over the place are now centralized in that building.

Scott Galloway 

Well, it sure is a beautiful building. And what I like about it is it’s visibility from the freeway. It has to be one of the most popular intersections in Idaho. That must be nice to have such a significant building right there.

Kent Oram 

Absolutely, and this is how it worked. Idaho Central is the entity that purchased that property and I’m the guy who found it. I was able to walk out there with a couple of stakes and drive them in the ground and say, “Here’s where I want my building,” and then say to Tommy Ahlquist, and his BVA team, “Okay, you can have everything else.” So, we did choose a very prominent location for our property.

Scott Galloway 

Are you going to have any other tenants in there or is ICCU going to take up the entire building?

Kent Oram 

We have a tenant comp unit being built out right now and a couple more that will be moving in. Our intent is to lease about half of it.

Scott Galloway 

Can you talk to me a little bit about some of the partners that you worked with? It sounds like BVA was key and kind of made everything happen once you turned it over to them. What was the importance of them in the relationship?

Kent Oram 

So, a person I should lead off with is someone on our Idaho Central Crediting Union building team that puts together our new project, Dustee Woolstenhulme. He does a tremendous job, and we really appreciate him. He was instrumental in this building. BVA, especially Tom Ahlquist senior who is their construction coordinator, and everybody behind the scenes to assist him did a great job of controlling and expediting this building for us. Okland Construction was the general contractor and Ryan Johnson was their lead. Then I don’t even know how many subcontractors would have been involved in that building, probably a couple hundred. Then there was OEC and Steelcase that helped us put all the interiors together. It was a nice project and a lot of partners.

Poised For Growth Again

Scott Galloway 

Yeah, great project. And it’s nice to have good partners to work with. Do you have any other buildings coming online that you’re excited about? Or any other news that’s happening at ICCU in the next year or so?

Kent Oram 

We just opened a branch in Moscow, Idaho. And that’s a fun one for us. It’s a new spot. So we’re excited about that one. We’re going to build a branch in Lewiston this summer, and we just broke ground on one at Ten Mile and Franklin there in Meridian. We will also replace a branch of ours here in Pocatello, Idaho. So yeah, we’ve got some things on tap.

Scott Galloway 

Very exciting. So four branches coming. Three brand new ones, then one completely refreshed one?

Kent Oram 

That’s right. The completely refreshed one is actually where we’re going to sell the property we are in right now and build across the street from it.

Scott Galloway 

For the ICCU Member Service Center West building about how long did it take from the moment you purchased the property to when the building was open.

Kent Oram 

I would say from purchase to open is probably 24-26 months. I had thought that it would be about an 18-to-24-month entitlement process to get the property ready to build. But through the work of BVA they were able to expedite all that. And then Okland Construction built the building in right about 12 months. So that’s why I say we’re at least a year quicker than I thought we would be, maybe even more.

Scott Galloway 

So that came together quickly.

Kent Oram 

Very quickly. As we were building our data center, we sent a team of ours to the Steelcase headquarters [in Michigan] and they were able to look at all sorts of innovative and exciting and fun things with different setups. We’ve incorporated a lot of that into not only our data center building [in Chubbuck], but also the Member Center West.

Scott Galloway 

I recall the ICCU data center has a wall system that is soundproof that they do their tele banking in. There are huge banks that are made of state of the art material that when you close the door, it seals and makes for a great environment where you can have a ton of these tele-bankers. Then you can move them if you needed to.

Kent Oram 

Yeah, I always like to go into those walls, they’re good. And, you know, interestingly, you bring those up, we had about 20, maybe 24 of those here on our campus, and we were going to build some in Meridian, and doubled what we were going to do. Then COVID came and our video banking started taking off like crazy because it’s easy to do but you can still see a face. So, we really pushed the video banking hard for the last two and a half years. It was stable, but not growing rapidly. Then all of a sudden, 2020 hit, and now we’re doing phenomenally well in those areas.

Scott Galloway 

Has that enabled new opportunities for ICCU going forward?

Kent Oram 

For sure, we can push out mortgage advice or business advice through them and reach people anywhere. In Idaho, I call them ‘banking deserts’ where people [banks] have left or have never even been there. So we’re able to reach out now to our more rural communities through technology. It’s going to be perfect.

Scott Galloway 

I like the idea of you being able to open up a virtual branch anywhere because they can connect, deposit checks, and take care of all of your banking needs. You can pretty much do everything with maybe the exception of depositing cash.

Kent Oram 

We have a commercial and billboard ad running right now that says, “Your nearest branch is in your pocket.” and we mean that. There’s a lot of people that just do that now. They don’t ever come and visit us.

Scott Galloway 

I know we talked about how business has been going well. Have your customers numbers gone up this year?

Kent Oram 

Yeah, we’re growing at about 11% membership growth. At our size 420,000 members, 11%, is another 40,000 people so that’s good. We’ve done really well this year.

Scott Galloway 

What type of growth do you have in the rural areas?

Kent Oram 

I would say that’s still slower. Most of the growth is happening in the markets where we’re established. I would have to say a lot of the growth is happening in the Treasure Valley with the end migration of folks that are coming to Idaho, and a lot of them are coming to the Boise area. That’s still the majority of our growth.

Scott Galloway 

Well, I’m excited to see the bigger ICCU presence here in Boise. I think there is a lot of growth happening here and it’s exciting to see the project. I love to drive down the freeway and see new building projects. Congratulations on the new building and all your new buildings.

Kent Oram  Thank you. We used to joke in the olden days, “Idaho Central is poised for growth.” Then we grew and we basically ran out of room. Now when we built the Member Service Center West and I walked through it, it’s like, “Ah, we’re poised for growth again.” We’re excited to have that facility and we are really grateful for everything you did for us and putting that together. It is a beautiful workspace and I can’t wait to get to see it in person now with our people in it.

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At OEC, we are in the business of creating amazing spaces that help companies attract and retain talent. That looks different for each business with whom we work. Throw in the unexpected changes brought in by COVID and those differences become even more pronounced. Now employers have to work harder to create a place where their employees can not only be in-person safely but also flourish. To get four tips for creating safer spaces, we sat down with OEC’s Director of Design, Jenn Galloway, to share how OEC has been able to create such spaces.

1. SANITATION

OEC’s initial response when COVID hit was to send a lot of people home. However, we quickly realized that we work better when we can collaborate as a team, so we needed to get our employees back to the office. One of the first significant changes we made was to set up sanitation stations throughout the office with Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, and thermometers.

We focused on placing these stations in highly trafficked areas first. One such place we wanted them to be readily available was in our conference rooms. We discovered early on that if it is not easy and accessible, then as the user exits a room, they often will not take the time to find cleaning supplies and come back to clean the space. So, making those supplies readily available was important.

We also asked our employees to keep a closer tab on how they were feeling. If they were not feeling well, even if it was not necessarily COVID symptoms, or they think they may have already had it, stay home until you feel better.

2. RECONFIGURE SPACES

For those who can, there are options to turn people around and put screens between them. We recently did an exercise for a client who has 50 offices throughout the US. They asked us to create a design for their offices moving forward that is COVID. It was an enjoyable design to do. We had a lot of creative and unique ideas to have space division and dividers, including how to face people in the office.

There is a delicate balance because people still do not love the idea of really high panels and enclosed spaces. As much of a reality that COVID is, it is not a look that offices are embracing. So, the Open Office is still very relevant with a couple of changes. The goal is to place people so that they are not breathing on each other all day. We want to keep that open field but be healthy.

One of the ways we do that is by facing desks in different directions. For some, this is not always an easy fix to turn someone around. In some cases, they may suddenly be facing a walkway. There are only so many parts of a room you can direct people where they may not have someone walking by them. However, if possible it is a great option.

3. SCREENS & PANELS

There are all sorts of ways you can do screens. It does not have to be the Plexiglas that you see at the grocery store. We have some fabric screens that are magnetic that you can move around, and they are about 70 inches tall. Glass screens are nice because they still allow light to filter. That way, you can keep that open feel, without it being the dark cubicle farm that you see in call centers. You can also bring in various fabrics and do fun colors to reflect your culture by picking splashes and pops of color. You can even create division with plant walls.

Additionally, you can put retrofit screens on top of your existing panels to bring up the height. Recently, there has been such a push for open offices that now, all of a sudden, people do not feel safe with all the open office. Using screens can help mitigate that anxiety.

4. LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY

While everyone would love to utilize our real estate differently, face out, and have room to move around, the reality is that spreading out is often not an option. You can try to create space for everyone to have their designated workspace so that there is always a minimum of six feet around them. When that space is not available, you can look into using screens.

The occupancy of conference rooms, for example, is something to consider. If you have a conference room that could fit 10, reduce that number to five, or even three. That is an easy thing to fix,  especially if you can video conference. It is not uncommon to have a meeting where someone is video conferencing so that you can keep the number in your conference room smaller. If you ultimately do not have the space available, you might consider having some of your workforce work from home. Using a rotating schedule where employees are in the office some days and at home on others can be extremely helpful.

At OEC, we are optimistic about the future. While we expect working from home is here to stay, we believe people will truly appreciate bringing a team together and emphasize the importance of doing so in a physically and mentally healthy space.

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Over the last several months, millions of Americans have been forced to adapt to many changes. For many, working from home has been among those changes. With this shift happening overnight, some were faced with the sudden need to stay productive for work and balance the responsibility of educating children. Parents have found themselves tucking into random spaces. Closets, spare rooms, garages, and even the backs of cars, all help employees find a quiet, peaceful environment. Many have also embraced their ingenuity. There are desks made of buffet tables, vanities, and laughably, the plethora of Amazon boxes accumulated during quarantine.

While quick thinking and imagination helped with the transition, few were prepared for the toll that working from home, often in isolation, would take on employees. After almost a year of this drastic shift in our workforce, OEC asked how so many employees work from home without going crazy? Here is what we discovered.

Nicole’s Solution

Before coming to OEC, our new digital marketing manager, Nicole Horton, was working from home for eight months. She worked in a small, spare bedroom with her husband to be close to the internet. Talk about going crazy! However, what Nicole and her husband did was unique. They started a weight loss competition with friends to see who could get the most steps. Weight loss and steps earned points and whoever got the most points won. The contest encouraged them to spend time outside during breaks and after work.

Looking to add variety to their walks, they eventually explored the entire Boise greenbelt.

“Normally we would be traveling whenever possible. So being stuck in the state forced us to become tourists in our own city. Discovering the greenbelt one 3-mile section at a time was exciting. It made us deeply appreciate where we live so much more.”

Spending so much time outside not only helped their mental state but was also kind to their waistline. Additionally, the competition helped them feel connected to their friends despite being hundreds of miles apart.

Michelle’s Solution

Similarly, OEC’s workplace consultant of over four years, Michelle Giudice, also turned to exercise. When Michelle was sent home in March, she and her husband had to balance work and raising their two-year-old daughter. Not wanting to send her back to daycare with so much uncertainty, they quickly adjusted to this new dynamic. With only one height adjustable desk upstairs, the couple had to debate who had the more important work that day. Whoever won would work at the desk while the other got the kitchen table and baby duty.

Needless to say, getting outside for an hour each day was a welcome change. During the two hours her daughter was napping, Michelle would step out of her house and onto the greenbelt. For the next 55 minutes she would run a total of five miles. When she returned, her husband would trade places and run as well. The time outdoors and away from work did wonders to keep her sane. In other moments, Michelle would take her two large dogs outside for some exercise.

“I needed to get air. Being here [in the office] is nice because you can get up and talk to friends and mess around a little bit. But when you’re stuck at home, working on Teams, it’s so different. So, I needed to get outside, and that’s when I picked up running.”

Michelle Guidice

Mark’s Solution

Mark Heazle from Lombard Conrad had a different approach.  When he sent his employees home, Mark and his partners found that the most significant thing they could do was simply to check in with them.

“I feel like we have all lost our minds at some point during this year. Being locked inside with kids while you are trying to teach them and work is not the easiest thing.”

That is why their team made a quick decision to implement programs like Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Teams. These programs allowed them to talk to and collaborate with their employees. In this way, they could shift and react to the changing environment while maintaining a meaningful connection with everyone in their firm.        

Through this change, Lombard Conrad discovered how easy it was to trust their staff.

“What this has shown us is we don’t need to keep our finger on the pulse of where everyone is in the office. They are self-motivated, and it is incredibly impressive how professional everyone is.”

The same is true at OEC. Our employees understand that life goes on and jobs need to get done. They step up to the challenge every day. All they need is a continued connection to their team to help them stay motivated.

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