Trial By Fire

At C1S, our team members are our most valuable assets. That’s why we take the time to invest in them professionally through things like continued education and networking opportunities, personally through the use of experienced mentors, and even physically through group activities like our “Susta1ners” running team and “Biggest Loser Challenge.”

One major beneficiary of our commitment to developing our employees and giving them opportunities to thrive? Our Director of Business Development, Andrew Clendenen.

A nine-year veteran of the company, Andrew has a number of roles including prospecting for new clients, developing sales and marketing strategies, and finding new ways to present C1S to the marketplace. It’s a far cry from what he was originally hired to do.

“I started as an assistant project manager, documenting LEED projects and doing some odds and ends work with the construction team,” said Clendenen. “But when the company hit a growth spurt back in 2011, I knew I had to contribute more.”

At that time, bringing in new business was on the long list of duties for C1S President, Matt Strong. But with a background in finance and a reputation for being an intelligent, hard working employee, this turned out to be the perfect opportunity for Andrew to step in.

And he did.

Andrew has played a major role in helping win some of the company’s largest projects to date and maintaining relationships with current customers. While successful, he admits that his first few years in this business development role were trial by fire, as he developed a formalized department.

“We have some of the best construction professionals and engineers in the business,” says Clendenen. “Our customers come back to us because we deliver better than anyone else. Knowing that the team backs me up makes my job a lot easier.”

In the past two years, C1S has done more construction work than it did in the previous seven, and revenue has grown by 200% in the last 5 years with another successful year forecasted in 2017.

Julie Strong, CEO of C1S, says it all starts with dedicated employees like Andrew.

“Andrew has this amazing knack for seeing the gaps in our business and developing strategies to fill them,” says Strong. “He has grown from project management to corporate leadership, making a positive impact on every department he’s touched along the way.”

So what has kept Andrew with C1S for nearly a decade?

“Not every day is a barrel of laughs, but I genuinely love what I do and respect the heck out of the people I work with,” says Clendenen. “C1S has a very infectious culture, and I have gotten a kick out of being part of a growing company.”

And as that growth continues, there will no doubt be more success stories like Andrew Clendenen, who saw the opportunity and ran with it.