We specialize in new ground up construction of office buildings, parking garages, medical facilities, manufacturing and industrial facilities, advanced technology facilities and cleanrooms.  We also handle interior renovations of these facitlites as well.

I have been in the construction industry for the past 15 years.  I currently am the Director of Business Development for Construction Services, Inc. of Tampa.  I also assist in the space planning, pricing and project management along with all of the marketing for the company.  I am an integral part of the CSI Cares program, the philanthropic side of Construction Services, Inc. of Tampa.  

We specialize in new ground up construction of office buildings, parking garages, medical facilities, manufacturing and industrial facilities, advanced technology facilities and cleanrooms.  We also handle interior renovations of these facilities as well.

I am proud to be a working mother.  I strive to volunteer regularly and give back to my community so that I can be a positive role model for my daughter.  I am involved with many no-profit organizations in the Tampa Bay area.

CSI Cares is the Philanthropic division of our company.  We provide one paid day off every month for each employee to devote their time to a charitable cause of their choosing.  This program, which I helped to create, is responsible for over 864 man hours in the community.  Additionally, this program has donated over $1,000,000.00 back into the Tampa Bay area.  This program was designed and implemented as a way to help coworkers get a hands on view of how they are personally impacting their community.  

A blessed year of accolades started with being named the Business Observers 40 under 40.  Here is the link and the article that was written.

http://businessobserver4040.com/laura-lay-37/

Director of business development/marketing director,

Construction Services Inc. of Tampa

Laura Lay got into development because she wanted a dog and couldn’t afford one on her teacher salary. Fast forward 15 years and she’s the director of business development and marketing at Construction Services Inc. (CSI) in Tampa. Lay co-owns the company with her husband, Fred Lay.

Lay says it was difficult as a young woman to push her way into circles of 50- to 60-year-old men, who had the “good old boys mentality.” She had to be creative, organizing shooting, golf and sports events. “I grew up on a farm, so man activities are easy for me,” she says.

Building relationships is how she’s helped grow the business. “Let’s get to know each other and the business will come,” is a mantra for Lay.

One of the most rewarding jobs Lay completed was helping Tampa-based Doctors Administrative Solutions find a new headquarters after searching for four years. “It took the longest labor of love,” Lay says.

Just as impressive is Lay’s resume with local organizations. She sits on the Tampa General Hospital’s Women’s Leadership Council and patient advisory board. She’s also on the development committee for the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and Growth Task Force for the Pasco Economic Development Council. Finally, she serves as a board member for Junior Achievement. Philanthropy is a big part of the couple’s business, Lay says. Over the last five years, CSI has donated $1 million back to the community, according to Lay.

— Traci Beach

I was chosen for The 2015 TBBJ Up & Comers.  This group ranged from brewers, bakers and Buccaneers to lobbyists, lawyers and literacy specialists.

A panel of four volunteer executives from the business community spent two days with almost 200 nomination packets and found 46 Up & Comers to introduce to the business community and highlight in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

As a finalist this year join I joined an exclusive fraternity of Tampa Bay business executives the TBBJ spotlighted when they were rising stars in the business community.

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/blog/2015/09/exclusive-tbbj-names-2015-up-comers.html

I am fortunate t be on the Board for the Friends of the Riverwalk.

Friends of the Riverwalk is a non-profit 501 (c) (3).  Our goal is to enhance the quality of life and build a stronger sense of community for Tampa Bay by preserving the waterfront for use by our citizens and visitors in a way that inspires a sense of ownership and invites active participation in city life.
 
While the city, as our public partner, is responsible for the design and construction of the Riverwalk, Friends of the Riverwalk plays a leading role in the generation of resident and tourist use through events, natural partner involvement and overall marketing of the Riverwalk. We also raise funds for Riverwalk enhancements such as shade structures, docks, more educational opportunities and entertainment venues.  Through private participation and matching grants from Hillsborough County, the Historical Monument Trail has taken shape along the Riverwalk.
 
To complete and improve Tampa's Riverwalk we need your support!  Please see the options available for your support here.

I was honored to be on the Board for Junior Achievement.  I have been involved with this organization for over 10 years.  

Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay serves 12 counties including the entire Tampa Bay Area. Junior Achievement is a volunteer driven, non-profit organization. This year more than 3,100 business professionals, parents, retirees and college students will enter our schools to teach Junior Achievement programs. These volunteers use their personal experiences to make the Junior Achievement curricula practical and realistic. Providing children with positive adult role models, who illustrate ways to build self-confidence, develop skills and find avenues of success in our free enterprise system, is a hallmark of Junior Achievement.

Junior Achievement is the world's largest and fastest-growing non-profit economic education organization. Our programs are taught by classroom volunteers from the business community in your area across America and in over 123 countries worldwide and reaches 9.7 million students.

I am humbled and honored to be chosen from amongst so many applicants to be in the 2016 Leadership Tampa Class.  I look forward to learning more about the Tampa area through this rewarding program. 

I am proud to volunteer my time to A Kids Place.

From digging ditches around the children's homes to coming early on Christmas morning to help the kids open gifts to planning fundraisers and galas this organization is dear to my heart.  I also personally and professionally financially support A Kid's Place.

A Kid's Place is a unique non-profit organization in Tampa providing foster care and a loving home for abused, neglected, or abandoned children.

Recently, my husband and I were very humbled to be presented with the Dottie Berger McKinnon Guardian Angel Award.

I personally financially support the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.  Professionally, I am a corporate sponsor.  In addition to monetary support I have volunteered at the Crisis Center and have also organized a TransCare appreciation event and held a private fundraiser for tangible items needed in the Sexual Assault Services department and the Family Stabilization department.  I previously was on the Development Committee and volunteered my time for 3 years in Women in Action.

The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay brings help, hope and healing to people facing serious life challenges or trauma resulting from sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, domestic violence, financial distress or emotional or situations problems.

I am proud to volunteer my time to read in the Bookworks program.  

Goodwill's BookWorks program brings together volunteer readers and children from low-income households to promote childhood literacy. Volunteers read to preschool children at Head Start centers and other locations and then present each child with a book of their own to take home. This Goodwill Industries-Suncoast program reaches children in six counties in West Central Florida: Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Polk and Marion.

BookWorks is designed to instill a love of books and reading and to encourage self-sufficiency. As a provider of welfare transition services in West Central Florida, Goodwill-Suncoast has seen first-hand the effects that illiteracy has on adults. The ultimate goal of BookWorks is to break the cycle of illiteracy to help children succeed in tomorrow's workforce. Because early childhood literacy is linked to later employability, BookWorks supports Goodwill-Suncoast's mission of helping people achieve their full potential through the dignity and power of work.

For individual volunteering, call (727) 523-1512 and ask for BookWorks or emailbookworks@goodwill-suncoast.com.

In the spring of 2013 I was personally selected to participate in a 9 week program for the Tampa Police Department's Citizen Academy.

This program familiarized me with the daily activities of a Tampa Police Officer.  

I was able to ride with offices on patrol, put myself to the test with taatctical exercises, meet the K-9 team, see CSI Tampa in action and learn what it takes to be a cop.  

This behind the scenes opportunity gave me in site into the rigerous training that prepares Tampa Police officers for their daily duties of protecting and serving the citizens of our great city.