NAIOP Developer of the Year Acceptance Speeches  

 

(Left to right) Jim Ryan, CEO, Ryan; Tim Gray, CFO, Ryan; Michael Mullen,
Chairman, NAIOP; and Pat Ryan, President, Ryan  

 

Jim Ryan

Introductions: CFO:  Tim Gray – Roommate, Accounting.  Provides incredible insight and creativity on all financial aspects of the company.

President:  Pat Ryan – CB broker.  Worked closely with Tim and me to get us in Development business. Truly responsible for the significant growth we have had.

Each one of us has a partner that has been critical to our success. Mary Gray, Ann Ryan, Colleen Ryan.

The real recognition however goes to the Presidents of our regions and the 900 employees of the company. These are our partners who are responsible for our success.

I would like to start by sharing a commentary that unfortunately is truer today than any of us would like to believe. It was written by George Carlin, a comedian of the 70s and 80s. 

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers,

Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less,

We buy more, but enjoy less.

We have more degrees but less sense,

More knowledge, but less judgment,

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life.

This is a sad commentary but unfortunately for many of us, it is true. So why do I even bring this up? The answer we believe lies in the core values of all of our forefathers. For us, we firmly believe that these core values of our fathers and grandfather are the very reason for our success today. Let me explain.

Our grandfather started the business in 1938 approximately 70 years ago. The values he lived and worked by were pretty simple. Always treat others the way you want to be treated and help others less fortunate when you can. My father later even stated it more simply “Always do the right thing.” For business, our grandfather had two additional beliefs. Take care of your customer better than anyone else. Hire people smarter than you but with the same belief system. These simple values and beliefs form the core of our culture today and we take them very seriously.

Our Mission Statement stems from these beliefs: BUILDING LASTING RELATIONSHIPS. Today we preserve this rich heritage and value system knowing it is our primary asset. We look for this integrity and values first in everyone we hire to ensure its continuity. We will continue to work hard so people like George Carlin won’t say: “We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life”. 

Thank you.

 

Pat Ryan 

Thank you.

I asked Mike McElroy for some advice about this presentation and his only suggestion...“Keep it short. They really don’t want to hear from you.” That gives you a flavor of the dynamic within the company.

What are the two points that I would like to make during my brief time on the dais? 

Having great partners is the key to everything. That is not only Jim and Tim but also the leaders of each office. So choose them wisely and carefully.  This is a complicated, fast moving and high risk business. You need to have the utmost confidence in your partners and be assured that they are watching out for your interest as you are for theirs. I like to call it an “alignment of interests.” Over time, if you fail to have an alignment of their interests, your partnership will fail.

Let me share a story of my two uncles many many years ago. When Jim was a young boy his brother, Timmy was diagnosed with leukemia. The healthcare costs mounting on Jim’s dad, Russell were astronomical. His partner, Fran took all of his distributions to help Russ pay those medical expenses. He told his brother to focus on his family and Fran would focus on the business. That is only one example of behavior by those that have gone before us which helped to create our culture. We need to enhance and preserve it.

We were selected Developer of the Year; I think, I hope not because we build the largest building, an architectural masterpiece or even the most financially successful building. I believe we were selected because of who we are, what we do and how we do it. We, as an industry, are more than the buildings we work on... there is no other industry which can have a bigger impact on “community” than our business. We can help shape the economic and social complexion of a community. But it requires that we look outside of ourselves; beyond our project to the “greater good of a community.” It has taken me a long time to fully appreciate this. Let me give you an example.

Rick Collins pursued the 1.2M sq. ft. Sears warehouse building which had been sitting vacant for over a decade and located in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Minneapolis. There were more drug deals on that corner than any other in the city...we didn’t think the project was feasible, but Rick persisted and convinced us to look harder at the deal itself and the broader community impact. We did so and decided to jump in with both feet...over 5 years we negotiated a 400,000 sq ft office lease with the leading health care provider, converted 365,000 sq ft to condominiums and apartments, developed 165,000 sq ft of retail, built a 2500 stall parking ramp and own a 230 room hotel... all of this in one of the toughest inner city neighborhoods of Minneapolis. Throughout this 5-year sojourn, we became acutely aware of issues surrounding the inner city poor (the interstate highway system has been marvelous for shielding us suburbanites from the inner city realities)...we sometimes needed three interpreters for a neighborhood meeting.

We wanted to do more for this community and concluded the only truly meaningful thing to do is help educate these kids out of poverty...lo and behold, along came Cristo Rey; a Jesuit inner city high school with an astonishing record of success. This led to the most significant project ever undertaken in our 70 year history.  We were developers, designers, builders, head of the Capital Campaign and lead contributors to this new high school which will house 500 kids, graduate 98% of them and send 95% of those on to another degreed school. This is in a public school environment which can’t graduate 50% of its kids. This school not only impacts a neighborhood but generations of kids.

I share this with you because had it not been for Rick Collins’ persistence (or stubbornness) we would have remained blinded as to the role we can play in affecting other people’s lives. Our responsibility to our profession is not to be a developer of buildings but developers of a broader community. I am convinced we can become better at our profession, better community members and more profitable companies.

I applaud NAIOP for establishing the criteria it has for this award, am humbled that Ryan Companies was selected as this year’s recipient, and on behalf of our 900 employees/partners... thank you.