William Brock Johnson posthumously awarded the 2014 Courage in Leadership Award

Fayetteville, Ark. — William Brock Johnson (1949-2012) was named the recipient of the 2014 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award, an award recognizing outstanding leaders in the AEC industry. Brock was the President and CEO of Garver in North Little Rock, Ark., and led the company through a period of transformational growth despite the past recession. He lost a battle with cancer in 2012.

“Brock Johnson exemplified all the qualities that this award stands for,” said Chad Clinehens, Zweig Group Executive Vice President. “He was a renegade in many ways. He empowered young people like myself, and he was willing to do the really hard things in the organization that were required to get people to stretch themselves and strive for bigger and better things.”

This is the fifth time the award has been conferred. The award was inspired by Jerry Allen, mentor to Mark Zweig and the innovative and inspirational leader of Fort Worth-based Carter & Burgess through a period of extraordinary growth. Under Jerry’s direction, the company grew from 200 employees and $17 million in revenue in 1988, to 2,300 employees and $381 million in revenue by 2002. Allen, who was an incredible athlete and in fantastic physical condition most of his life, was struck down by colon cancer at age 62. In his honor, The Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award is given each year to someone working in an AEC firm who has demonstrated in a unique way, personal courage in their actions that have impacted their firm.

“This year we had a unique opportunity to award this to an individual whose story is incredibly similar to Jerry’s but more importantly had an tremendous impact on one our own, Chad Clinehens” said Mark Zweig, Zweig Group Founder and CEO. “Chad worked with Brock for 14 years and was at his side in the c-suite as they changed the way their people thought about growth at Garver. I am truly honored to confer this award to Brock.” 

For more information about The Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award visit https://zweiggroup.com/awards.