Kaden Ryback’s bedroom window faces a construction development area in downtown Phoenix. A large crane stands tall, watching over the site after the workers leave for the day. At night, colorful lights lining its beam illuminate the city skyline.
The crane, owned by Clayco Inc., has been the subject of Ryback’s affection for over a year.
Reagan Priest explained that this specific crane is special from others downtown. “When we walked past the one near my place, he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s a Clayco crane, but it’s not as big as the other one, it’s not as cool,’” she said. Priest is Ryback’s girlfriend.
Ryback spent most of his life ignoring the beauty of cranes. A Phoenix native, he attends Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with Priest.
“It was last year and a friend of mine said, ‘Hey, did you know that cranes can assemble themselves?’ And I was like, cranes can assemble themselves?” Ryback said. “So I thought, well this is fascinating. That was definitely what sparked my intrigue.”
Ryback began tweeting at Clayco and liking their posts, hoping that they would notice him.
Finally, a few weeks before his birthday in May, Clayco liked one of Ryback’s crane tweets.
“I would always put #ilovecranes at the end of every post,” he said. “It’s my little signature at the end of every tweet. And I noticed that they finally liked one, and I was like holy shit. And I told my girlfriend this, and she was like, ‘Wow, that’s so cool!’”
Unknown to Ryback, the tweet was the work of his girlfriend. “Kaden’s a hard person to shop for,” Priest said. “He doesn’t like clutter. What could I do for him for his birthday that isn’t a physical thing?”
Priest contacted one of Clayco’s communications officers in Phoenix and arranged for the company to like some of Ryback’s tweets, along with posting a birthday tweet on the Clayco account on May 17.
“I don’t even think I knew it was her that was doing this,” Ryback said. “I just thought they recognized me from my tweets and knew it was my birthday.”
“I remember I was at the gym and Reagan texted me to check Clayco’s Twitter account,” Ryback said. “And I look and it says ‘Happy Birthday Kaden Ryback, to our number one Clayco fan.’ I was so, so ecstatic.”
Clayco executive chairman and founder Bob Clark even replied to the birthday tweet, saying “Happy Birthday Kaden and best wishes.”
But Priest wanted to do more for Ryback’s birthday. “I remember asking, can we put up a sign?” Priest said. “And the project manager at the construction site said, ‘How big of a sign?’ And I responded, ‘Well, how big can it be?’”
Priest spent the next few days planning the dimensions and ultimately settled on two king-sized bed sheets. She and her roommates took three days to sew them together, then spent another eight hours painting with fabric paint. They used hair dryers to blow dry the paint so they could fold the sign up and walk it over to the job site. “That part was really awkward,” Priest laughed. “It was just me and my roommate walking in on a group of construction guys.”
Ryback, his friends and his girlfriend were at his birthday party when the sign was finally lifted up on the crane.
“And they’re like, ‘Hey, what’s what thing on the crane?’” Ryback said. “I look outside and I see this banner hanging off the hook of the crane.”
“It’s the coolest thing anyone’s done for me on my birthday,” he said. “It’s one of the best gifts I’ve received.”
Priest’s arrangement with Clayco isn’t the only thing the company has done for the community.
Skye on 6th, the development on 6th and Garfield and home of the Clayco crane, broke ground in Aug. 2021, and is set to be completed in 2023. On Oct. 4, the building “topped out,” meaning the last beam was placed and the roof was completed. But the construction site is more than just a future apartment complex.
Clayco partnered with Hubbard Street Group to bring the Construction Career Development Initiative (CCDI) to the site. CCDI aims to “bring diversity to the Design and Construction industry by mentoring and exposing minority, underrepresented and underserved students to career development in construction,” according to their website.
At Skye on 6th, 25 juniors and seniors from Bioscience High School visit the site monthly and learn about the project as part of the CCDI program. It provides the students with real world experience, connections to internships and potential college scholarships.
“It sets up a pathway for them to break into the industry and start their own careers and endeavors,” Clark wrote in his blog.
Two seniors from BHS received the “Build Our Future” scholarship, funded by Hubbard Street Group and Clayco. Each scholarship student received $2,500, and several other seniors were offered summer internships who were interested in pursuing a construction-related college degree, according to Clark.
Since 2015, the CCDI program has seen 75 graduates go into full-time employment.
“Skye on 6th is a project that embodies Clayco’s mission to build ‘Beyond These Walls’ to positively impact the communities around us,” Clark wrote.
Clayco’s philanthropy is just another reason Ryback loves the crane company. When asked if he felt he was their number one fan, he said: “Easily. 100%.”
Ryback said he plans to continue being a Clayco fan while he completes his degree at ASU.
“It started as a bit,” Priest said. “I don’t think it’s a bit anymore. It’s progressed beyond that.”
Contact the reporter at @mrua1@asu.edu
