To honor the memory of his father, who had a love of sailing and believed in the restorative effect of it, Lex Birney, CEO of The Brick Companies, made a $100,000 donation today to Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) Sailing as they kicked off their 30th anniversary and marked the beginning of the construction of a new adaptive sailing center on Bembe Beach Road in Annapolis. The donation is earmarked for a pavilion on the property where Birney said he hopes many people can “rest, and tell fish tales” to honor the legacy of his father, Arthur Birney, who passed away this January. Click HERE to read the entire Eye on Annapolis article.

CEO, Lex Birney was interviewed by Eye on Annapolis', John Frenaye for their podcast series, Legacy Business Spotlight. Click below to hear the interview.

On March 16, Launch Workplaces and CEO, Mike Kriel were featured in the Remote Report, an outlet that reports on news and insights on the business of remote work. Please read an excerpt from the article, "Co-working spaces poised for comeback as businesses adopt hybrid office model". Co-working spaces, like many other businesses, were caught flat-footed by the drastic drop in activity when the pandemic hit last year. Almost overnight, people worldwide fled shared offices to work from the safety of their homes. The drastic drop in customers forced some co-working centers to close, while others had to rapidly adapt their offering to weather the coronavirus storm. Now, with employers growing more optimistic that it will be safe for staff to return in the near term, demand is poised to rebound this year as many organizations consider allowing employees to continue to work remotely at least on a partial basis, real-estate experts and business operators say. “People want to return to work,” said Mike Kriel, chief executive officer of Launch Workplaces, a Maryland-based provider of co-working spaces. “The nuance is they don’t want to return to work the way they used to. They don’t want 40 hours five days a week in the same space.” Such a shift to a so-called hybrid office model, where staff come into the office a few days a week and work remotely the rest, may help employers and employees find middle ground. Click HERE to read the entire article.

The recent killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis leaves me angry and sad. I have long been disheartened as well by the many other deaths and harassment of African Americans and people of color by police and individuals. Racism and discrimination of any kind has no place in our society and yet it persists. It is past time for it to end. Any system that marginalizes and victimizes the less fortunate for the benefit of the few must change. The poet Carl Sandberg wrote, “Have I, have you, been too silent? Is there an easy crime of silence?” The Brick Companies will not be silent. It is more important than ever for us to engage in meaningful conversation and to take the extra time to listen to diverse points of view and to value diverse experiences. We will continue to live out the words of our company quest but with renewed vigor to Talk Honestly and Openly, Make a Positive Difference, Add Value and Be Accountable, Build Great Relationships and Earn Loyalty, Take Risks to Create and Innovate, and Encourage Personal Growth and Community Involvement. Lastly, we will continue to examine ourselves to ensure that we are building a company environment where every employee, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or gender, feels respected and valued. In the end our actions will only bring us all closer together, make our lives richer and stronger and help break down barriers in our society that have existed for so long. Together we stand but divided we will fall. The Brick Companies stands with countless others in this fight to end discrimination in its many forms. Lex Birney, Managing Partner The Brick Companies