January 21, 2025

Q&A with AGCW's outgoing Marketing Director Sean Lewis

Photo courtesy of Sean Lewis

Lewis said he plans to spend more time with his wife, dog, motorcycle and guitar after his retirement Jan. 31.

AGC of Washington's Marketing Director Sean Lewis is retiring at the end of the month after 31 years in the industry. He has two sons, Sam and Marc; grew up in Richland, attended Skagit Valley College and is a 1985 graduate of Western Washington University.

Lewis told DJC Special Projects Editor Shawna Gamache about his early days collecting punch-outs from electrical junction boxes, the Ken Griffey poster he designed for the Seattle Mariners, his years blogging for the DJC, and how Pacific Northwesterners keep pushing the envelope on sustainable building.

DJC: What was your path into construction?

Sean Lewis: Well, it may well have been when I was about 8 or 10 years old and went around to various construction sites in and around the Tri-Cities with my dad, where he managed the local branch of Lord Electric, doing lots of big school and commercial projects, and projects at Hanford too. I remember going around jobsites with him (and it was cool, because he was The Boss), and I learned earlier than most kids what conduit and Romex are. I also thought those little round metal punch-outs from electrical junction boxes (that were all over the place) had to be worth putting in my pocket, because they looked just like money. My dad was also on the local IBEW apprenticeship board, but by the time I was in high school, I wasn't at all considering construction as a career.

I ended up majoring in Visual Communications at WWU. I always had a knack for writing, I guess, and after a few years out of college and working with a small design firm, doing lots of copywriting and marketing-related projects with some pretty high-profile firms, I landed the job as the first marketing manager at Absher Construction in Puyallup (cutting my commute from almost three hours a day to about 10 minutes). That turned out to be an incredible opportunity for me at a great company, getting into a very dynamic industry and working with some great people, doing proposals and graphics and photography and wearing all the other kinds of hats that marketers often wear.

DJC: What are some of the projects and initiatives you've been proudest to work on over the years?

SL: Prior to my construction years, I was able to do some very fun and rewarding projects including a Ken Griffey Jr. poster for the Seattle Mariners, commemorating his hitting home runs in eight straight games (I got eight autographed copies of it, too). I also got to do lots of fun and interesting graphics, brochure and collateral work for Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, Westin Hotels and others.

On the construction side, when I started at Absher, the company was entering a new, third generation of family leadership under Dan Absher, and we started going after lots of bigger projects, both public and private. With input from our project teams, I put our proposals, presentations and interviews together as we aggressively pursued big-fish projects like Seattle Housing Authority's very big New Holly development, Great Wolf Lodge down in Rochester, the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Seattle, the new Eastside Catholic High School, all of which we won, as well as a number of GC/CM projects when that procurement process emerged, including the Seattle Housing Authority's New Holly Redevelopment. And I have to add that I really enjoyed writing a blog series for a while for the Seattle DJC some years ago, at the invitation of then-construction editor Ben Minnick. That was fun.

DJC: What's something about construction you try to convey to people outside of the industry?

SL: Two things come to mind. One, simply what a massive and far-reaching industry it is and how many people work in it. It's huge; virtually everyone has a family member or friend in the industry. There are just so many aspects and roles within it, and it's everywhere. Society simply stalls without construction.

I'd also mention how complex the industry is — not just from the technical “how do we build this?” side, but also how government regulation hampers efficiency, how advancing technology is a simply a constant factor (like most industries these days, I'm sure), how so many entities are involved in any major project — things like that. And that there are just so many incredibly smart people in this industry, working in very specialized roles, solving major challenges of all kinds, every single day.

DJC: What's unique about the construction industry in Washington and/or the Northwest?

SL: It seems to me that we Northwesterners push the envelope further than many other parts of the country in terms of green-building methods and materials; that's always just seemed to be part of our culture here. Also, being with AGC of Washington for a little over 11 years now, I'm also pretty close to the issue of construction safety, because AGCW's Safety Services department is a national leader in that area, and our members and the industry as a whole in Washington state clearly benefit from that. That's obviously very critical and important work, and I doubt there's a more dedicated, engaged and committed safety department across all 93 AGC chapters.

DJC: What's one thing you wish every Washington contractor was doing?

SL: I'd have to say that focusing on merit, and merit alone, when hiring, assigning or promoting personnel would be a great industry standard. There's too much at stake on a jobsite, at least, for anything other than the best-trained and most knowledgeable people. But along with that goes the need for companies to support and engage with established training and apprenticeship programs, as well as programs like Core Construction that all help to showcase the industry in public schools and spark the idea of construction careers in young people's minds. There are so many opportunities in this industry, and far too many going unfulfilled. We have to have smart, qualified and trained people doing the work, and our industry members have to support the programs and infrastructure that draws them in.

DJC: What's next for you?

SL: I'll first have to establish a daily routine that's far different than the one I've known for decades, but it will probably start with a morning walk with our rescue dog Chloe. I'll be riding my motorcycle a lot more, I'm sure, and my wife Katy and I will probably do some traveling and adventuring, near and maybe far, and spending some extended time in Arizona.

I'm also a musician on the side (seanlewismusic.com); I released an all-original, 14-song, full-band album (“Time Will Tell,” available all over the interweb!) just over a year ago, which was a big bucket-list item for me. I just played my 600th solo show, in fact, and I'll be able to devote more time to writing and performing and keeping all that as sharp as I can, as long as I can, and maybe work on some projects with other players. I also plan on doing some volunteer work for kids, animals, law enforcement and/or veterans groups. Wow … retirement is looking like it's going to be pretty busy.