Tim Graybeal
Dear DBIA NW Members,
2022 is a transition year for the Northwest Region, and as part of that transition, it is my privilege to step into the role of Region President. As I do, I’d like to recognize the effort and progress made by the immediate past president Katie Popolow. Katie has done a fantastic job of bolstering our regional alignment with the national organization and drawing new interest and volunteers into the fold. Thank you, Katie, for the great work!
I want to welcome some new members to our executive board this year. Our Board Vice-Chair is Morris Aldridge, the Executive Director of Planning and Construction for Tacoma Public Schools.
The Board Treasurer is Jon McGrew, an Associate Principal with Hennebery Eddy Architects in Portland. The Board Secretary is Colin Anderson, Program Manager for Hill International in Spokane. These gentlemen are all dedicated proponents of Design-Build, and we are thankful to add their experience and energy to our leadership team.
It is a great privilege to serve as Board President. As I look forward to the next few years in our industry, we have a chance to develop the Design-Build model further. The Northwest Region is leading the nation in adopting Progressive Design-Build, and together it is our opportunity to push the boundaries of this profoundly collaborative delivery model.
As we learn “What” to do, we should also ask “Why” we do it and whether it genuinely brings value to our projects—understanding the answer to Why can help us re-shape our approaches and leverage the power of these trust-based high-performing teams. Design-Bid-Build put teams on opposite sides of the table, and we spent a lot of energy on defense. If we can leverage Design-Build to truly work together, perhaps we’ll find that we are all on the same side. Shifting an entire project to an offense-focused team with the single goal of delivering value can radically improve project outcomes.
DBIA NW stands ready to assist in this goal by providing relevant, project-focused education and training to answer both the “What” and the “Why”. I want to thank you all for the support you provide the Region in making this possible and encourage everyone to continue sharing their success stories. This coming year is an exciting time for our industry, and I look forward to learning together as we make significant progress in the Design-Build model.