I’ve heard it a million times: “Actions speak louder than words.”

In a country like the U.S., where we vote with our dollars, that becomes even more true. We make a demand and the supplier who meets it wins the sale. Sometimes the government—the officials we elected to regulate policy—can give a push to make it happen. The question is, are we speaking up?

Three weeks ago, we bought a used van for our millwork shop. With a price tag of only $500, it seemed like a great deal. A few days later our shop foreman said the van was getting barely 12 MPG. No problem, I thought. We just need a tune up. Sadly, that did nothing.

The van is circa mid to late 90s. We checked, and the rated MPG when it was brand new was only 13 MPG. At the time, that was all the federal government required. As it turns out, it was operating at peak fuel efficiency.

Due to the rising price of gas, consumer demands and resulting government regulations, fuel-efficiency standards have increased. Pickup trucks are in the 20-MPG range now. Down the road, they’ll probably get closer to 30 MPG. To me, this is an example of the government pressing us to do better. In a perfect world, we’d all become more energy efficient on our own. But the reality is, sometimes laws are needed to encourage businesses (and people) to do the right thing.

On January 1, 2011 every building permit issued in the state of California must be designed to meet green standards. I have no doubt that this can be accomplished throughout the U.S.  I believe we can improve our overall energy efficiency and sustainability practices, like we did with fuel mileage.

So, are you letting manufacturers and elected officials know what you want? We can prompt a gentle nudge in the right direction.

Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

“The barn quilts are public art that celebrates the place people call home. They make people feel good about themselves and where they live.” – Donna Sue Groves

We decided to give it a shot on our woodworking barn. We plan to paint several quilts over the coming year to reveal the unique diversity within our small community.

Ms. Groves originated the barn quilt project in Adams County, Ohio in 2001. Almost ten years later, this simplistic concept of painting a quilt square on an eight foot square piece of plywood and hanging it on a barn for others to enjoy is now called the National Quilt Barn Trail, spanning more than 20 states and British Columbia.

She feels this phenomenon sweeping the nation reveals something about our communities. “When we all become part of a team, we actually weave the fiber that brings people together,” she says. I agree wholeheartedly.

Our first effort could not be a better illustration of how teamwork builds a better community. Mitchell’s Place, our across the street neighbor, is a center specializing in services for children, young adults, and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).  This past Saturday, several Stewart Perry and Mitchell’s Place families joined together to paint our first barn quilt. As I watched everyone, especially the children, painting the 128 triangles that would make up 64 squares to finally form one large quilt, I could not help but be reminded of how rewarding it is when everyone comes together to accomplish a common goal. Even more rewarding was the laughter of the children, the smiles from the parents and the fun had by all as we got to know our neighbors better.

The geometric design, created by our own Lynn Wilkins, symbolizes the colors representative of autism awareness. All of the pieces, painted by several and pulled together as one, reveal our individual perspectives with collective aspirations. Our hope, like Ms. Groves, is simply for all to enjoy.

The barn quilt will be hung this week end. Please let me know if you happen to drive by. We’d like to hear your thoughts.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

One of the Scouting merit badges is Communications. It’s required to earn the Eagle Scout rank, and that’s for a good reason. They emphasize conversation, listening, writing, persuasion and public speaking—all things that if mastered, comprise good communication. Honing this valuable skill at a young age can give Scouts a tremendous leg up. That’s because communicating effectively is a key to success at all stages of life, whether it’s interaction with your teacher, your boss, your employees or especially your clients.

Think of the classic vision of a Scout: a young boy helping an elderly lady cross the street. He learns early on the importance of looking both ways. The same is true in communication. It is a two-way street in which the traffic from both directions – speaking and listening – is equally important. You must not only be able to communicate your ideas clearly, but also truly take in what is being said. Listening is a huge part of communication. If something is said and it’s not heard properly, then what have you really accomplished? You’ve probably missed valuable input.

How can communication make us more effective? I think seamlessly and clearly sharing our thoughts, then listening intently in return will take us a long way as business leaders, family members and citizens.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

I recently read an article in Architectural Record about the city of New York pressing contractors to present a more positive image on city construction sites. While the approaches vary, the theme is not so different from an initiative I stumbled upon in London last fall.

The UK Considerate Constructors Scheme is a national project founded in 1997. Sites and companies that register are monitored against a “Code of Considerate Practice” designed to encourage best practices beyond legal requirements. The Scheme covers any area of construction with direct or indirect impact on the image of the industry as a whole, and focuses on 3 categories: the general public, the workforce and the environment. More than 40,000 sites have participated so far.

So what does the Code of Considerate Practice include to protect builders from getting a bad rap and improve industry image? Here are the 8 basic premises for site evaluation and grading:

1. Considerate: Does the site minimize inconveniences for all those who may be affected by the work?
2. Environment: What is the site doing to minimize impact on the environment?
3. Cleanliness: Is the site doing all it can to appear tidy and well presented at a standard the industry should be proud of?
4. Good Neighbor: How well is the site communicating with those who may be interested/affected? What impression will contractor leave behind when finished?
5. Respectful: Does every person on the site create a positive image of their company and the industry?
6. Safe: Is there a proactive approach driving up safety standards?
7. Responsible: Is the contractor playing a role in the recruitment and training of the industry’s future workforce?
8. Accountable: Is the contractor accountable and accessible? What is being done to create a sense of pride in working in construction? Are there any measures taken on the site that could be classed as exceptional and unique?

How’s that for a report card? If you could improve your grades in those 8 areas, think about what you could do for your community and your business. It’s happening in London. It’s happening in New York City. Can you make it happen in your city?

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

Two days after Katrina smashed into the Louisiana coast, I made a call to a friend at the FAA and he gave us clearance to fly. We rounded up a four passenger Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter and proceeded to New Orleans MSA. It was a relief to discover that, other than minor damage, the properties were not affected. They were even more fortunate that their entire team was accounted for and safe.

These images taken by Clinton Smith came from that uneasy helicopter tour. Revisiting them reminded me how tragedy can affect us all when we least expect it. Nine months after Katrina, I was back in New Orleans and cars remained stacked on top of cars underneath Interstate 10. Many of the shops on Canal Street were still not open.

But instead of being a defeat, the battering from the storm united the city and strengthened the ties that bound residents. The Crescent City has come a long way since the tragedy they endured four years ago. Today, New Orleans is back in business and home to a championship team. A new set of fans rallied around the Saints not because of their football skills, but because of what they represented—the American dream of rising above a challenge. Super Bowl XLIV became the most watched program in television history.

In the final few minutes of the game last Sunday evening, I e-mailed my customer in New Orleans to get his insight on the game. How did it feel? His response: “Who dat gonna beat ‘dem Saints?” What a great story of triumph over adversity.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

Last week we received a plaque from The Heart of America Foundation for the improvements we provided an inner city Atlanta elementary school. It’s a beautiful memento covered with pictures of students enjoying their new space. As I looked at all the smiling faces, it reminded me why we made the commitment last June.

Jim Gustafson and Patrick Davis, two of our strategic partners at Target, called to ask if we would be interested in teaming on the rebuild. I agreed, mainly because of the people who asked. When I got off the phone I started second guessing myself. With the Recession and our revenues down, what was I thinking? Fortunately, my conscience kicked in and helped me realize that it doesn’t matter. A friend asked for our partnership—they could help with supplies and we could help with the balance need—and children would benefit for years to come. We would figure out how to make it happen for these kids. Clinton Smith, who led the initiative from our end, did just that.

The library at Beecher Hills Elementary received a complete transformation including 2000 new books, updated technology and colorful interiors conducive to learning. “We know that pre-K through fifth grade is the period that sets the tone for reading,” said first-year Principal Crystal Jones. “Getting this done will go a long way toward making that happen.” Maybe the library can even provide a “tipping point” for these kids just like Malcolm Gladwell mentions in his book.

“You have not just changed the library, you have changed the lives of our children forever,” said Dr. Sharon Davis Williams, executive director of Atlanta Public Schools for southwest Atlanta schools.

I knew the children were thrilled, but looking at the pictures last week it made it all worthwhile. I called Jim and Patrick and asked them to sign us up for another school next summer. I couldn’t pass up the chance to help kids learn.

Check out more of the library renovation celebration on my flickr photostream.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

As I read through Churchill’s sayings and speeches a couple of things occurred to me. First, while we are all struggling through these times, our parents and grandparents would gladly change places with us from their hard days in the Depression and a World War. Secondly, keeping the faith in our own abilities and ourselves will help get us through this rough patch. To use the wise words of Mr. Churchill, “Never, never, never give up.”

I’ve experienced hardship personally. Since leaving college, there have been two times that I’ve been financially broke. In a strange way, I’m glad I went through those periods. We learn a lot of lessons as we walk the trail. This week I was visiting a long time customer relationship in Minneapolis. During the course of conversation he said, “in life we all get educations and they all come with a price.” So wisely said. My “school of hard knocks” lessons were personally costly, but I’m convinced the trials made me a better person, someone capable of empathy.

This week I had dinner with a friend who I initially met as a business contact. Last spring, he called to let me know that he was in the same boat as millions of U.S. citizens. He had lost his job. He questioned his abilities and a lot of other things during that initial period of “why me?” but quickly recovered and reached out to friends. He did everything textbook. He got out of the house and volunteered every Saturday as a swim team coach for children with disabilities. He took business courses to better his managerial skills and most importantly, he networked and then networked some more. He refused to accept a misfortune as defeat.

Our recent dinner was celebratory. We toasted his new job as real estate director with an international Fortune 100 company. My friend had a new look. His face showed the confidence of someone who was faced with adversity, met the challege and is looking at a bright future. His new start came in our worst recession since the Depression. The best news of all…He doesn’t plan to quit his Saturday job at the swimming pool with his swim team.

My friend followed Mr. Churchill’s advice well. Never, never, never give up.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

• Foremost, it helps whichever organization or charity we are supporting
• It helps bond my team in a setting outside of the office, and is often something that everyone can do together
• It gets the company name and message out there in a positive light

For the past three years during the last weekend in September, we as a company put down our computers and picked up a sauce mop to try our hand at grilling barbecue in the Pig Iron Barbecue competition, benefiting Children’s Harbor, a non-profit organization that provides social services, counseling and financial help to children with serious illnesses and their families.

Children’s Harbor maintains a 14,000 square foot Family Resource Center connected to Children’s Hospital in downtown Birmingham with a library, laundry, gym, basketball court, and nap room. It provides children and families who are long-term residents of the hospital with all the things the hospital can’t, and makes life just a little more tolerable for those in this unfortunate situation.

There are more than 40 companies and several thousand people that get together every year for the Pig Iron Barbecue who try to beat out everyone else for the title of best barbecue, while at the same time contributing to Children’s Harbor. This past year we had the honor of participating in the competition as well as taking home first place for best barbecue. Our employees were thrilled to win the trophy, but enjoyed time together and the chance to give back more than the prize. If your business makes a similar commitment to philanthropy, I can guarantee the charity won’t be the only benefactor. You’ll see a smile on every team member’s face.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

This spring we lost one of the great sportsmen in the country, Mr. William R. Ireland, a long time friend and neighbor, at the age of 85. Born in Birmingham, he attended Auburn University and fought in World War II as a Navy man before returning home to work at Vulcan Materials, the family company, for 30 years.

He was president of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, and helped create and pass the Alabama Forever Wild constitutional amendment, legislature that set up a state-funded program to buy and set aside land for wildlife protection. He also supported Ducks Unlimited, the American Cancer Society, Boy Scouts of America, the Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, the Nature Conservancy, Freshwater Land Trust, and the Big Brothers of Greater Birmingham.

In his later years he founded a 5,000-acre hunting preserve in Alexander City, AL called Five Star Plantation, a site that is frequently visited by the Boy Scouts and other local youth organizations. He was a true friend of mine and he will be severely missed. My son and I had the pleasure of joining Mr. Ireland in the inaugural duck hunt on the William R. Ireland Wildlife Preserve on the banks of Tennessee River in Scottsboro, AL in 1997. His dedication to community service, philanthropy and nature continue to serve as inspiration for me.

I’m forever searching for the ways to live up to the example Mr. Ireland gave me, hoping I might open a door for others to join me in continuing his work. What can you do to inspire someone?

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

I’ve been involved with the Boy Scouts for years, and every spring the members of BSA Troop 28 in Birmingham take a trip down to Five Star hunting plantation in Alexander City, Alabama where they train for their wilderness survival merit badge. We hike to a lakeside camping spot and our scouts are tasked with providing themselves shelter and nourishment for the weekend using nothing but what they find around them or fishing from the lake.

The scouts are not allowed to bring tents, and instead each scout is given a small assortment of materials and tools. After a bit of confusion, task delegating, and gathering supplies, they start to work making individual shelters out of pine straw, tree limbs, and the occasional fallen trunk. The designs are sometimes less than successful–you often wonder how they envisioned such a construction–but if anything they are unique. After everyone has built a shelter, a demonstration is made on possible ways to improve each one. The idea is to be prepared if one day you are caught out in the woods by yourself in less forgiving circumstances.

The boys take to the lake for food, and spend all afternoon fishing for their dinner. To make it a little more difficult, they are only allowed to take out fish smaller than 2 pounds and the rest have to be put back. At the end of the day they learn how to clean and fillet them, and cook them over an open fire.

The second night each of the boys is given a steak and they learn how to cook meat “Tarzan style”(thrown directly on the coals). They also learn how to cook potatoes and onions buried underneath the fire and bake pies and biscuits between hot rocks.

It is an experience unlike any other: sleeping in pine straw den under a lean-to of tree branches, and catching and eating your own dinner. It’s a taste of self-reliance for these young boys that teaches confidence and vital survival skills. It’s also an annual reminder for me about the importance of teamwork, innovation and being prepared for the unexpected.

What can you do to be forward thinking and train your business for it’s next big challenge? Cut back on spending? Find new ways to connect with your employees? Whatever it is, hold up three fingers for a Boy Scout oath and pledge to be prepared.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.