Active 6 years, 7 months ago
1933-2020
William A. Ames
William A. “Wink” Ames passed away peacefully on November 15, 2020, at the age of 87 surrounded by family and friends at his macadamia nut farm in Hawaii. Wink was inducted into the NAC in 2013 and was a tireless supporter of construction even after his retirement that year.
After graduation from the University of California, Berkeley in 1956 with a BS in Civil Engineering, Wink served in the US Air Force from 1956 to 1960, where he flew fighter jets. He began work in the construction insurance and surety industry in 1961. In 1984, he was one of the founders of Minard-Ames Insurance Services, LLC, a construction industry insurance brokerage and surety bonding firm.
During his career, Wink was truly legendary to those participating in the Southwest construction industry as his involvement exceeded five decades, coinciding with evolution of a fledgling construction industry in the Southwest to world class. Wink worked in the Arizona construction industry for more than half of its statehood. Few other people have had such a far-reaching influence on construction across the Southwest−he was truly a “giant” of the industry. It is also worth noting that he and the late NAC member John Lamberson were protégés of Wink’s father (Bill Ames, a Golden Beaver awardee) and good friends; they shared the same qualities of leadership and service. Those who knew Wink were always thrilled when he rewarded good efforts or ideas by taking a piece of company stationary, drawing a five-corner star and presenting it to them for their good work. It is fascinating to study the way Wink influenced the industry with his business activities as a supplier of services. The discussions below are but a few examples of his influence.
Wink’s philosophy was always that if there was a construction association meeting that one could attend, go to the meeting, volunteer and do the work needed to accomplish an activity or mission, either later that night or on the weekend. Serving the industry in this and other ways was always a primary focus.
One of Wink’s favorite sayings was, “collaboration at the expense of confrontation.” Having started in the construction business beginning in the early 1960s, he remembered when confrontation was the communication system used by everybody. His participation in the American Subcontractor’s Association, Phoenix Chapter, as their Co-Chair of the Partners in Construction committee allowed him to bring general contractors and subcontractors together in round table sessions to find how they could do things better, together. Although the other co-chairs rotated, his position stayed intact for years as he influenced the bridge between the two sectors of the industry. This is but one example of his leveraging work responsibilities to better the industry as a whole through collaborative processes.
One of the basic truths of the contracting business is that a successful contractor needs to do three things, all really well. They are -- Get the Work, Build the Work, and Do the Business of Construction. Many contractor failures arise out of the third requirement – Do the Business of Construction. Starting in the 1970s, Wink and a colleague began teaching the financial aspects of the business of construction to every construction industry practitioner that he could find. With the help of three others, he taught over 300 half-day and all-day workshops focusing on how to use accounting numbers to manage construction projects. The accomplishment of these workshops was the number of people who used the knowledge he imparted to grow their construction businesses into successful firms. During the same time frame, Wink helped found the highly successful Valley of the Sun Chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), reaching a wide-ranging number of professionals in this business. In 1994, he helped found the Arizona Builders Alliance’s (ABA) nationally recognized Leadership Development Forum (LDF). In 2007 he helped develop the Arizona Minority Contractors Association’s Business of Construction Course. These are just a few of the initiatives that have influenced several generations of builders in Arizona.
Wink was a regular guest lecturer for graduate and undergraduate courses for over 40 years at the Del E. Webb School of Construction, teaching in his expertise areas of finance and surety. He served on many committees supporting the efforts of the School in terms of curriculum, scholarship and building endowments; the latter of which culminated with a new building for the School and a total fundraising campaign of $23 million. He and his children endowed The Ames Family Scholarship to make available a professional construction education to someone who, but for their help, would not have been able to afford one. He was also a key funder and fundraiser in the establishment of the $1.5 million, Beaver-Ames Chair in Heavy Construction at ASU, which supports the construction engineering program. This effort resulted from a vision he and John Lamberson shared: a vision to bring the practice of construction into the class-room. Taken together, these activities with the University will pay dividends long into the future.
Wink was a friend to us all and his energy, warmth, and contributions will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by his family and many friends.
-Edd Gibson, 2021
After graduation from the University of California, Berkeley in 1956 with a BS in Civil Engineering, Wink served in the US Air Force from 1956 to 1960, where he flew fighter jets. He began work in the construction insurance and surety industry in 1961. In 1984, he was one of the founders of Minard-Ames Insurance Services, LLC, a construction industry insurance brokerage and surety bonding firm.
During his career, Wink was truly legendary to those participating in the Southwest construction industry as his involvement exceeded five decades, coinciding with evolution of a fledgling construction industry in the Southwest to world class. Wink worked in the Arizona construction industry for more than half of its statehood. Few other people have had such a far-reaching influence on construction across the Southwest−he was truly a “giant” of the industry. It is also worth noting that he and the late NAC member John Lamberson were protégés of Wink’s father (Bill Ames, a Golden Beaver awardee) and good friends; they shared the same qualities of leadership and service. Those who knew Wink were always thrilled when he rewarded good efforts or ideas by taking a piece of company stationary, drawing a five-corner star and presenting it to them for their good work. It is fascinating to study the way Wink influenced the industry with his business activities as a supplier of services. The discussions below are but a few examples of his influence.
Wink’s philosophy was always that if there was a construction association meeting that one could attend, go to the meeting, volunteer and do the work needed to accomplish an activity or mission, either later that night or on the weekend. Serving the industry in this and other ways was always a primary focus.
One of Wink’s favorite sayings was, “collaboration at the expense of confrontation.” Having started in the construction business beginning in the early 1960s, he remembered when confrontation was the communication system used by everybody. His participation in the American Subcontractor’s Association, Phoenix Chapter, as their Co-Chair of the Partners in Construction committee allowed him to bring general contractors and subcontractors together in round table sessions to find how they could do things better, together. Although the other co-chairs rotated, his position stayed intact for years as he influenced the bridge between the two sectors of the industry. This is but one example of his leveraging work responsibilities to better the industry as a whole through collaborative processes.
One of the basic truths of the contracting business is that a successful contractor needs to do three things, all really well. They are -- Get the Work, Build the Work, and Do the Business of Construction. Many contractor failures arise out of the third requirement – Do the Business of Construction. Starting in the 1970s, Wink and a colleague began teaching the financial aspects of the business of construction to every construction industry practitioner that he could find. With the help of three others, he taught over 300 half-day and all-day workshops focusing on how to use accounting numbers to manage construction projects. The accomplishment of these workshops was the number of people who used the knowledge he imparted to grow their construction businesses into successful firms. During the same time frame, Wink helped found the highly successful Valley of the Sun Chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), reaching a wide-ranging number of professionals in this business. In 1994, he helped found the Arizona Builders Alliance’s (ABA) nationally recognized Leadership Development Forum (LDF). In 2007 he helped develop the Arizona Minority Contractors Association’s Business of Construction Course. These are just a few of the initiatives that have influenced several generations of builders in Arizona.
Wink was a regular guest lecturer for graduate and undergraduate courses for over 40 years at the Del E. Webb School of Construction, teaching in his expertise areas of finance and surety. He served on many committees supporting the efforts of the School in terms of curriculum, scholarship and building endowments; the latter of which culminated with a new building for the School and a total fundraising campaign of $23 million. He and his children endowed The Ames Family Scholarship to make available a professional construction education to someone who, but for their help, would not have been able to afford one. He was also a key funder and fundraiser in the establishment of the $1.5 million, Beaver-Ames Chair in Heavy Construction at ASU, which supports the construction engineering program. This effort resulted from a vision he and John Lamberson shared: a vision to bring the practice of construction into the class-room. Taken together, these activities with the University will pay dividends long into the future.
Wink was a friend to us all and his energy, warmth, and contributions will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by his family and many friends.
-Edd Gibson, 2021
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