Husch Blackwell has launched a comprehensive, industry-based knowledge center, Construction Academy, that seeks to foster learning, create interactions and build value for its participants. The industry-focused law firm is responsible for the programming and administration of the academy, which aims to include diverse voices and stakeholders including business leaders from the construction, design, engineering, development and project funding fields, as well as trade associations, universities, and policymakers.
The Construction Academy represents the formalization of an initiative Husch Blackwell has forwarded for several years in which key members of the firm’s construction and design practice group provided timely perspectives on a variety of legal and operational topics, often in conjunction with clients and industry participants. Recent industry trends of note have included the evolution of technology adoption across the construction industry, the boom in pre-fab and modular design/build techniques, the rise of the WELL building standard and the evolution of vertical public-private partnership (P3) projects.
“Construction and design projects are inherently complex—and becoming more so,” said Joshua Levy, co-leader of Husch Blackwell’s construction and design practice group. “Our aim here is to gather together the very smart people in our industry in order to break down that complexity and to derive real-world insights that people can use to move projects forward.”
A key component of the Construction Academy is the participation of leaders and companies involved in the industry in order to develop solutions that address challenges on both the local and national level. Dan Fitzgerald, CEO and president of Horizon Construction Group, Inc., has noted Husch Blackwell’s ability to foster this unique industry-wide conversation.
“We are a national development, construction and property management firm that performs projects in as many as five states at any given time,” said Fitzgerald. “Husch Blackwell has helped us grow by providing excellent services in every area from entitlements, financing, acquisitions, contract drafting and dispute resolution. Their construction and design group has a depth of industry knowledge that gives us the confidence we need to pursue any opportunity in any state.”
