I hope everyone reading this is safe and healthy. It has been over 30 days now since Covid -19 has had such a profound impact on our lives and businesses. Every day I grieve for the families who have lost loved ones.  I worry for those less fortunate and the severe impact this disease has had on their jobs and hope for the future. I am so grateful for the thousands of medical workers and essential personnel who put their lives at risk every day.  We can’t thank them enough.

While my life like everyone else’s has clearly been disrupted, I have found many silver linings in our new reality.  We have been blessed to have our 3 grown children living with us. I would never have imagined that our family would be living together once again. The family walks, family dinners and great conversation have been truly special.  I have also found myself regularly connecting with friends from college and business school as well as our friends here in DC. Whether its spontaneous conversation with folks walking by our house or zoom calls, in many ways I feel closer to my friends and family than ever before in spite of the physical separation.  I have really come to appreciate the simple things in life like the pleasure of cooking a good meal for my family or the satisfaction of cleaning my house.  I have really focused on self-care through reading, listening to my favorite music, working out and meditation. I have been trying to get everyone at home and EYA to think about self-care as well.  We are all leaders at work and at home and we need to take care of ourselves both mentally and physically in order to provide leadership to those who count on us during this marathon event.  Our marketing team posted a fantastic blog post offering suggestions on how we can help our communities and ourselves during this time of crisis. https://www.eya.com/blog/how-you-can-help-your-neighbors-and-community

As for EYA, we are fortunate to be considered an essential business so far and continue to progress at all our projects.  We are lucky to have an outstanding leadership team that has refocused our energy on how to reimagine our business in times of social distancing and virtual sales. I participated in a Harvard Business School series of classes on crisis management that has helped create a clear structure on organizing our team to deal with the ever-evolving issues and a process for identifying problems, engineering solutions and experimenting with execution of new ideas.  I feel like I have gotten my MBA all over again. I am providing a link to the program and would be happy to discuss these ideas directly with anyone who thinks they might be helpful. https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/events/Pages/crisis-management.aspx

The safety of our buyers and prospects, our field staff and our subcontractors is our primary focus and our policies and procedures continue to reflect the latest CDC guidelines. Our field staff have been heroic in continuing to build-out our communities.  Our land acquisition team continues to advance our many pipeline projects through virtual meetings and internal analysis and design.  It has been remarkable how the local jurisdictions have continued to advance projects through virtual meetings and virtual inspections in the field.

The reimagining of our sales and settlement processes has been amazing.  Our sales and marketing teams continue to adapt to a virtual world.  We are excited about executing a virtual opening at our Riggs Park Place community in Ft Totten planned for next month. https://www.eya.com/townhomes/washington-dc/riggs-park-place-fort-totten-metro

We continue to experiment and evolve.

Like everyone we have focused significant energy on making sure we have the financial resources to withstand a variety of economic conditions whether a short-term slump or a longer-term recession.  We have tried to reduce expenses and conserve cash while keeping our team intact.

One of the things I believe in strongly is regular communication with our team.  We have held weekly company wide zoom meetings where we speak honestly about the challenges we are facing and the measures we are taking.  I am so proud of everyone at EYA for their flexibility, resilience and willingness to work together to help shape this new reality.

While there are definitely huge challenges ahead and tremendous uncertainty, I believe that we are doing everything we can to survive today and thrive in the future.  The stay at home order and the changes in our everyday life make the “home” an integral part of all of our futures.  I am optimistic that EYA can continue to create great homes and neighborhoods that will serve our regions population for years to come.  I believe that we all need to play a vital role in returning our lives and our economy back to something more familiar.  Remember this will likely be a marathon and its crucial to take care of our own bodies and minds while we take care of our work responsibilities and our loved ones.

Stay safe and healthy,

Bob Youngentob
CEO, EYA
Former Chair and Governance Committee Member, ULI Washington

In ULI Washington’s new Leadership Insights column, ULI Washington will regularly feature member leader’s thoughts and insights as we adjust personally and professional to a “new normal.”