Ryan (CEM’96) and Sheri (M’96) Maibach are community builders in multiple senses of the phrase.
Ryan is an actual fourth-generation builder. After college, he started work at Barton Malow, a family-owned construction firm founded in 1924 that now employs about 2,200 people and pulls in around $2.5 billion in annual revenue. He held half a dozen positions before becoming president in 2011.
Sheri was previously a public accountant. But after their kids were born, she quit her job to stay at home with them. Now she’s studying to get her master’s degree in Christian leadership.
We want to truly improve people’s lives. … That’s a mission for the both of us.”
Ryan Maibach
One way Barton Malow is building communities is by creating community spaces. The company’s projects include Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Soldier Field in Chicago, and Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Maibachs’ three children were born in a hospital Barton Malow built. “We have been to a lot of college campuses, looking for places for the kids to go, that Barton Malow has built,” says Sheri. “It’s neat to see the impact.”
The company also aims to build community within its own workplaces by offering its employees a hand up. In addition to career coaching and leadership development, Barton Malow has brought in a cardiologist to speak about healthy habits, offers microloans and financial assistance, and gives employees time off to volunteer.
“I think there’s a growing need for businesses to create a social infrastructure that used to exist more in communities,” Ryan says. “That’s really an opportunity that Sheri and I see to combine our interests a bit more over time, to grow that social infrastructure.”
One initiative that’s already taken root is the company’s chaplaincy program, which Sheri was involved in creating. “The chaplains visit job sites and offices on a regular basis to develop relationships with the employees,” Sheri says. “And then when there is a medical crisis or a death in the family or something’s happening with a child, there’s this relationship. If the individual is a person of faith, the chaplains will speak to that; if they’re not, that’s fine too. “
The couple isn’t exactly sure what their next steps look like. But they know the effect they want them to have — and that they want to take them together. “I can’t do what I do without Sheri, and vice versa,” Ryan says. “We’re a team, and our purpose is bigger than the business itself.
“We want to truly improve people’s lives, and that’s really where the two of us can draw on our experience. We’re looking at how we can use our complementary skill sets to maximize our positive impact. That’s a mission for the both of us.”