Inc 500 Conference

My first breath at the Inc. 500 conference was contagious. I wanted more. 100% oxygen was directly applied for two whole days. Breathing the same air as other colleagues who are making the effort to make the world better one idea at a time is inspiring to me. I share a few of the highlights from the conference that resonate. A good leader builds and maintains cohesive relationships. It is critical for a leader to communicate with clarity. A cohesive team has to be total trust. Accountability is essential. Conflict is good and necessary to bring out the best ideas and solutions.

DyalCompass has cultivated a strong team. We stand together. When times are challenging the team unites. We have each other backs. Everybody on the DyalCompass team has witnessed my personal vulnerability. I have witnessed theirs. We hold each other accountable. Accountability is displayed through results, communication, conflict and trust. We are honest with each other. The truth sets us free.

DyalCompass is expanding before we are ready. We are embracing and raising the bar to the future. DyalCompass is demanding its developers build with a conscience and prove it by building with a goal of LEED certified. DyalCompass is pioneering change and it feels great. DyalCompass is ready for the future and so are two of its luxury eco-sensitive homes within Indigo Park, Sweetgrass and Camellia. DyalCompass is not just building homes, it is building a platform to life with a conscious. Come join the DyalCompass world by buying a home at Indigo Park, Kiawah Island, SC. For more information, please visit www.DyalCompass.com

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Extending An Olive Branch

Extending an olive branch often comes in the face of courage. Too many of us hang out with the same friends for years, stay in the comfort zone of the same community, never reaching out to gather new seeds for growth, never taking risks when fear is the temperature of the day. All we need to ask is are we being nice today? Are we reaching out to say hello? Are we aware of our surroundings and mindful of the environment? Are we extending an olive branch?

It is courage when DyalCompass has a vision to build Indigo Park, a high-end residential green community, which will also serve as a platform for creating relationships. I believe residents will be happy in the beautiful and peaceful environment. Despite the roller coaster ride of the stock market, DyalCompass is pressing forward. It takes courage to invest in the future. A recent article sited Indigo Park as “a place of the future”.

I leave you with two quotes apropos for the times.
“ Courage is resistant to fear, mastery of fear not absence of fear.” Mark Twain
“Success is not final, failure is not total. It is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

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Hurricane Irene

Last week I was memorized by the amazing coverage provided by CNN reporters synchronizing and choreographing the unfolding of Hurricane Irene up and down the coast. Highlights showed Irene’s wrath unfolding on many buildings which survived by preparing in advance for this potential situation. Buildings with hurricane resistant windows did not shatter, aluminum roofs did not crack or fly away, solid foundations built on stilts to accommodate excess water, zip system installation to prevent water leakage, all demonstrate owners committed to protecting their properties. All these actions shout out loud people are making wise choices and living with a conscience. I applaud the millions who listened and evacuated, trusting town, state and government officials to work together to protect each community from Irene and her aftermath. Everyone rolled up their sleeves, united as a team for the benefit of all.

DyalCompass is united as a team in building homes that are environmentally sensitive. All products utilize the highest grade earth-friendly, sustainable materials proven to reduce green-house gas emissions, lessen lasting effects on the environment, and provide durability and low maintenance. Each home is built with a conscience. DyalCompass is cutting edge in developing Indigo Park, Kiawah Island’s premier green community featuring 16 homes nestled peacefully along a verdant marsh. Each Indigo Park home will be built with Platinum LEED certification as its goal. Once complete, Indigo Park will be the 1st Platinum LEED community within a luxury resort. In addition, DyalCompass donated 3 acres of land for conservancy and a green park. My team who believe in the mission to build with a conscience moves me. Royal Indigo Construction, Siematic, NuCedar, and Berlin G. Myers Lumber, to name a few, are incredible. Together we are making history and feeling proud.

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Conscious Capitalism Conference

What drove me to the Conscious Capitalism conference at Bentley University was my hybrid car but it was my heart that steered the way. While the speakers were engaging it was the conviction on investing in the future that kept me glued to my seat. The conference moved me, and raised my conscious to a higher level.

I am President of DyalCompass, a real estate development company that leads with a conscious. DyalCompass makes decisions with purpose and passion first and its wallet second. I truly believe profit maximization can be achieved if business leaders focused on creating a higher level of consciousness about the product it’s creating, the environmental implications and the benefits to its customers.

It is no surprise as I listened to Kip Tindell, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, of The Container Store and Doug Rauch, Former President of Trader Joes, that both companies outperformed the S&P 500. In so many ways it is the companies that operate with a conscious that win long term not only with nourishing employee talent but making a mark on the future.

It is my challenge to convince the real estate brokers selling DyalCompass products they have an opportunity to be better, to raise the bar not only for themselves but for their customers and residents on Kiawah island, SC. It is all about long tem value. Indigo Park located in Kiawah Island, SC is the newest community being developed by Dyal Compass. Indigo Park is a premier green community featuring 16 homes being built with Platinum LEED certification as its goal. In addition, Indigo Park will offer a three-acre park for all the residents and guests to enjoy. Indigo Park is where common sense is a sense of purpose.

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Babson Environmental & Energy Conference

Recently I attended the Babson College Energy and Environmental Conference. I want to share a two highlights.

Kathryn C. Brown, Senior Vice President, Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility at Verizon, kicked off the conference. Kathryn believes sustainability is part of good business and thinks of her role as a social entrepreneur. Kathryn spoke about the use of coal is on the rise and how nuclear is off the table as an energy source. Kathryn encouraged the audience to read Global Business News and how with long term thinking comes long-term responsibility.

Sheeraz Haji, Ceo of Cleantech Group, spoke of the declining investments from the venture capital world, now approximately 33% less venture capital dollars from 2008 to 2010. Yet China is ramping up its investments in the clean technology industry. An interesting change are now the corporations, like Wal-Mart, making investments in companies offering more efficient methods of doing business and delivering products.

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Dyal Compass Features Berlin G. Myers Lumber Corp.

With the development of Indigo Park on Kiawah Island, SC underway, Dyal Compass will feature companies and suppliers that are going above and beyond to deliver the best product and service. We highlight Berlin G. Myers Lumber Corp, located in Summerville, SC. www.berlinmyerslumber.com

Largely do to Indigo Park, the sales team at Berlin G. Myers Lumber took classes to be certified as NAHB Certified Green Professionals. This makes them more knowledgeable about green building in general, and better able to discuss the benefits of the green building materials that they carry with other contractors thus increasing the supply chains that are critical to mainstreaming these products.

Berlin Myers Lumber Company has also started to supply and stock the “Zip Wall” sheathing products that Dyal Compass is using at Indigo Park.
This product allows for a tighter building envelope, which is more energy efficient and prevents air and moisture infiltration (especially important in the hot humid climate of the South East). “Zip Wall” sheathing is manufactured locally and is made from locally farmed fast-growth Southern Yellow Pine.

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Drilling for Natural Gas

Recently I read an alarming article in the New York Times “Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers” by Ian Urbina. The article discusses natural gas and the new techniques drilling companies are utilizing to extract the resource. A new drilling method called hydrofracking is causing major controversy for producing wastewater containing radioactive chemicals. The wastewater gets hauled to sewage facilities not equipped to treat the containments before discharging it into major river basins supplying drinking waters. Pennsylvania is at the center of this controversy. Treatment plants have discharged wastewater into the Monongahela River, which provides drinking water to more than 800,000 people. Alarming! Clearly, the PA state government has lost control of protecting the environment for its residents.

At Dyal Compass protecting the environment guides its business decision. Recently, Dyal Compass donated over 3.0 acres of prime land to Kiawah Island Conservancy for the purpose of conservation and green space. As a steward in green building, Dyal Compass selects suppliers who employ “green” methods such as high quality, sustainable products containing natural and non-toxic elements.

For more information on Dyal Compass, visit www.dyalcompass.com or call 857-272-2502.

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Discovering An Artist With Environmental Passion

Recently I learned about J. Henry Fair, a photographer and environmental activist from an article in Charleston Home magazine. The article profiles J. Henry Fair and how he is uses photography to educate consumers about environmental destruction. J. Henry’s passion for the environment and his photographs were impressive. I had to learn more about him.

From a google search, I discovered The Cooper Union in New York City was hosting an exhibition of J. Henry Fair’s work called “Landscape of Extraction: The Collateral Damage of the Fossil Fuels Industries.” I went to the exhibit and was mesmerized. The images penetrated my mind and played tricks on it. In one photograph, was I looking at a mountain landscape on a cloudy day? No, it was a photograph of the chemical toxins released in to the air after a coal slurry breakdown in the coal mining process. In another photograph I visualized beautiful abstract swirls of color yet I learned it was gas emissions from a paper mill, which generates a tremendous source of climate changing gases. The photographs were beautiful and repulsive.

A staunch believer in the importance of living life with a conscience, every decision I make personally and professionally at Dyal Compass, is guided by that principle. J. Henry Fair shares the same beliefs. We are leading by example. J. Henry Fair – keep clicking away.

For information on Dyal Compass, please click here: http://dyalcompass.com/

For information on The Cooper Union Exhibit of J. Henry Fair click here:
http://cooper.edu/news-events/events/landscapes-of-extraction/

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Green Living in Australia

The United States produced Buzz Lightyear but Australia is light years ahead when it comes to living with a conscience – a green conscience. My sons and I arrive in Melbourne Australia, staying at The Westin. Once we arrive in our room I notice the dual flush toilets, the body sensitive lights, the pressurized faucets to reduce waste, and a note from management encouraging guests to pass on the daily washing of bed sheets and towels. Amazing! When I spoke with a Westin manager about these green initiatives he informed me it was done several years ago! I then asked about the costs involved and if The Westin lost customers because of the additional monies needed to upgrade. The Westin manager replied “ No we all agree here to live with a conscious.” Wow! The Westin manager went on to explain, “a country is stronger if it is not all about the one individual but the society as a whole.”

The trip to Cairns and Sydney only reinforced Australia’s philosophy. Every bathroom, including the bus stations and the zoo, every hotel, and every restaurant all participate in an effort to conserve, recycle, don’t waste, and renew. Solar and windmills are just a part of the efforts. The buses in the cities are propelled by natural gas. There are electric taxis! Yes – this is why traveling is exciting and educational. Down under is clearly up and over to the green side. Good da.

To learn more about the green initiatives at The Westin Melbourne visit: http://www.westin.com.au/melbourne/

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109 Flyway Drive Featured in Robb Report Holiday Issue

We are delighted to announce that 109 Flyway Drive is included in the Robb Report Collection’s infamous Holiday Gift Guide issue.

Arrow over to page 76, you will see 109 Flyway Drive featured in “Current Listings – From hilltop to ocean front, these homes deliver the best in island living.”

http://www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416146381&o=ext

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