MITA Members Inducted Into Ferris Hall of Fame

Four MITA members were recently inducted in to the Ferris State University Construction Hall of Fame.

Lawrence D. Clark, founder of the Lansing-area Clark Companies, was honored for his significant contributions to the concrete foundation industry and leadership in Delta Township area development, where he pioneered poured-wall and tilt-up concrete construction. The Clark Companies include Lawrence Clark Concrete Construction, L.D. Clark Excavating, the L.D. Clark Building Company and Builders Aggregates.

Clark has served such professional organizations as the Concrete Foundation, Greater Lansing Home Builders, Michigan Concrete, Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation, and Tilt-Up Concrete associations, as well as Associated Underground Contractors and Central Michigan Associated Builders and Contractors. Recognized for his service to Delta Township and, nationally, as a concrete innovator, Clark has received the Murray Parker Memorial Award, the Tilt-Up Achievement Award, and eight separate Building of the Year Awards, as well as special recognition from Dow Chemical, Owens Corning and Con/Steel.

Brothers Arthur J., James O. and Ralph J. Fisher were honored for their development of the Fisher Companies – Fisher Transportation, Central Concrete, Central Asphalt, Bay Aggregates and Midland Engine – from Fisher Sand and Gravel, the business their parents, Ralph “R.J.” and Zelda Fisher, began in Midland in 1925. The Fisher Companies, grown by the brothers into a 400-employee operation with annual revenue of more than $100 million, provide heavy civil contracting and a variety of other construction-related services across the Great Lakes region, with each brother serving in a variety of leadership positions within one or more company divisions.

The brothers also are known for their development of Mt. Pleasant’s popular Bucks Run Golf Club on the site of a former Fisher Sand and Gravel pit. Collectively, they have provided extensive service to multiple community and professional organizations, including the Asphalt Paving Association of Michigan, Associated Builders and Contractors, Associated General Contractors, the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, the Ready Mix Concrete Association, and both Michigan and national chapters of the Society of Professional Engineers.

Selection of Michigan Construction Hall of Fame inductees is based on nominees’ technical, managerial and leadership achievements within construction and related industries, as well as service to the profession and community. Inductees are selected by a committee of professionals representing Associated Builders and Contractors, Associated General Contractors of Michigan, the Construction Association of Michigan, the Michigan Association of Home Builders, the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, and Ferris State University’s Construction Technology and Management programs. The Michigan Construction Hall of Fame is located in Ferris State University’s Granger Center and serves as a permanent place for leaders of the Michigan construction industry to be recognized and appreciated. For more information, visit ferris.edu/mchof.