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INDUSTRY Q&A; I'm not sure that anything has ever been normal as far as the commercial construction indus- try goes. The normal of the past wasn't normal until it was over with. The normal of the future won't be defined until we're further down the line. What are you optimistic about today? When observing the current trends in the construction industry, I am optimistic about the possibility of addi- tional expansion for Eddie Bauer. Right now, we have been pretty much static on that end. I'm thinking that 2013 will be the turnaround time, especially with the increase of construction costs. This says there is more work out there, and that might be something that we can take advantage of. What kind of trends are you seeing out there? Depending on the retailer, building both larger and smaller stores is a trend we are seeing in the industry, in addition to building greener stores. And I expect the expectations to increase. Again, this all ties back into costs. The more they increase, the more there will be increases in sustainability building practices. It's a chal- lenge. But we're also starting to see some return on investments, which is telling all of us that we're doing the right things in this area. I think that sustainability is not only something we have to do; I think it's some- thing that we all want to do. It's about taking care of the environment. Walk us through some of your sustainability initiatives? On the refresh side, we consider each job separately, each store separately. Where we can, we are re-lamping with LED lighting. That poses a very high initial cost, but the return on investment is favorable. On the design and construction side, we require that both our vendors and contractors use sustainable materi- als. We just completed a project in New York that is 100 percent LEED certified. We're getting more and more into it. We might not be where we need to be, but we're moving ahead and hoping that the costs for using sus- tainable materials will come down, which will make it better for everybody. These are things that we want to do. It's a matter of 26 Commercial Construction & Renovation September/October 2012 Jim Gale BioFile Director of Construction Eddie Bauer WHAT'S THE MOST REWARDING PART OF YOUR JOB? Seeing the excitement in the faces of our asso- ciates when we turnover a new or remodeled store. Seeing customers enjoy shopping in a new or remodeled store. Photo by Ken Shepard, Azzura Photography WHAT WAS THE BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED? From Ray Worley at Morse Diesel…"Kid, if it ain't on paper, it ain't built." WHAT'S THE BEST THING A CLIENT EVER SAID TO YOU? "Great job. Can you help us on our next project?" IN YOUR VIEW, WHAT ARE THE THREE STRONGEST TRAITS ANY LEADER SHOULD HAVE? Honesty; the ability and willingness to make tough decisions in a timely manner; and the ability and will- ingness to admit when he/she has made a mistake. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE VACATION SPOT AND WHY? Home. I spend so little time there. I enjoy sleeping in my own bed. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ULTIMATE VACATION? Taking a train trip on the old Orient Express route in Europe. WHAT WAS THE LAST VACATION YOU TOOK? We took a road trip from Denver to Maine. We went through upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and then back through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR DOWN TIME? Woodworking and making projects for my wife's garden.