By David Crawford, Executive Vice President of the AIA North Carolina Center for Architecture & Design in Raleigh, NC.

There are very few moments in one’s career when hindsight tells you, “I really did the right thing at that point.”  The North Carolina AIA’s decision to move forward with the building of our new Center for Architecture & Design in downtown Raleigh was one of them.   Against all odds, the building was completed just this winter, and stands as a testimony not only to sustainable building, but sheer will.  We were one of a few new construction projects that managed to survive the 2008/2009 financial crises.  And none of it would have been possible without the generous contributions from companies like James M. Pleasants Co. (JMP).