UBR Spotlight: Construction Management Firm CEO Deryl McKissack

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR contributor Renita D. Young speaks with Deryl McKissack, the president and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, a company specializing in architecture and interiors, program and construction management, and planning and facilities management with offices in Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles. McKissack and her company have participated in projects ranging from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the expansion of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, to The National Museum of History and Culture.

It could be easily said that entrepreneurship is in McKissack’s blood, as she is the fifth generation to lead her family business. Under her leadership, the firm was ranked by Engineering News-Record as one of the top 50 program management firms and one of the top 100 construction management firms in the country. McKissack joins the Roundtable to share how she followed in her family’s footsteps, but paved the way to her own success.

Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with brand marketing consultant Isha Edwards, the owner of Epic Measures, L.L.C. An expert in business, branding, entertainment and education with more than 20 years of experience working with corporate and nonprofit organizations, Edwards joins the Roundtable to share how entrepreneurs can make business meetings less time consuming and more effective.

In my “Alfred’s Notepad” this week, I remind UBR listeners that our involvement in the upcoming Presidential Election must go beyond casting your ballot on November 6. Over the next 90 days, small business owners need to ensure that their voices are heard by both candidates. And based on what you hear (or don’t hear), you need to invest your resources and influence in support of the candidate you feel is best suited to advance the causes and policies you believe in. It starts with listening to the messages of each candidate and staying informed. You can start by looking for Black Enterprise Editor-in-Chief Derek T. Dingle’s exclusive interviews with President Obama in its August 2012 issue and GOP candidate Romney in its September 2012 issue of Black Enterprise. Also, if you missed Dingle’s live Twitter chat last week, go to http://tweetchat.com/room/BEVOTE2012 to get his insights from his interviews with both candidates. Also continue to search #BEVOTE2012 for more updates on election coverage from Black Enterprise.

And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Khoa X. Ho of Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.