Having a current strategic plan is always an advantage to a company or organization but in times of financial or other stress it is essential.  In bad times some firms might think they can’t afford strategic planning but Eric Myers knew better.

Eric launched Elemi Architecture, an architecture, planning and urban design firm in Chattanooga prior to the onset of the 2008 recession that hit the building industry as hard as any sector of the economy.  While the firm has grown steadily, Eric and his staff thought they were missing some opportunities to emerge from the recession in a stronger competitive position.  Before undertaking new marketing efforts they asked KCRW to work with them on sharpening their vision, mission and strategic goals as a firm.

Although staff share an open workspace and collaborate on project teams for various clients, they realized during strategic planning sessions with KCRW that they should be communicating more clearly and regularly with one another – sharing expertise, knowledge and ideas…and that they should be doing this more with other design professionals as well.  They set specific objectives to be more deliberate about this kind of collaborating.

Members of the firm have a mutual passion for projects that contribute to the overall good of the community and that hold to high principles of environmental sustainability.  In the course of strategic planning they were able to fine tune these values and determine some ways to turn them into business assets.  “We realized that what we almost took for granted as a part of the philosophy of our firm, could be turned into a dollars and cents advantage,” said Eric.  “Strategic planning was what we needed to help us better serve our clients and our community while being happy and fulfilled in our individual work.”

Reflecting the firm’s new commitment to collaborative efforts, they recently partnered with a local artist and won a competition for a temporary installation in the Main Street area sponsored by the City’s Public Art Program.  The piece will be installed this spring at the south west corner of Rossville Avenue and 20th St.