Craig Polancich: Elevating Design Excellence Through Integration

At DCi, great design doesn’t happen in isolation, it’s the result of intentional collaboration, disciplined process, and a deep understanding of how design decisions impact construction and long-term performance. Few people embody that philosophy more fully than Craig Polancich, Senior Design Project Manager.

Since joining DCi in 2015, Craig has led the design effort on some of our most complex and technically demanding industrial design-build projects. From advanced manufacturing facilities for Polaris, Minth Group, and Milwaukee Tool, to his current leadership on Project Mustang, Craig has consistently brought clarity, rigor, and foresight to projects where the margin for error is small and the expectations are high.

What sets Craig apart is not just his technical expertise, but his ability to seamlessly integrate architecture into the broader design-build process. Working closely with preconstruction, operations, and field teams, Craig approaches design as a tool for problem-solving, anticipating constructability challenges, aligning scope with budget early, and ensuring design intent supports

schedule, safety, and quality goals.

That mindset naturally led Craig into a broader leadership role across the organization. Drawing on his project experience and passion for continuous improvement, Craig now serves as the architecture team’s representative for T.W. Frierson’s Quality Program, helping shape and uphold best practices that guide our projects from preconstruction through design, construction, and closeout. In this role, he ensures architectural excellence is not just a goal, but a repeatable, measurable outcome, embedded into how we work as one integrated team.

Craig’s influence extends beyond individual projects. His leadership helps reinforce a shared standard of excellence across DCi and T.W. Frierson Contractor, Inc., strengthening alignment between design and construction and elevating the experience for our clients, partners, and employee-owners alike.

As DCi continues to support increasingly complex industrial and manufacturing clients, Craig’s steady leadership, collaborative approach, and commitment to quality remain a vital part of how we deliver projects that perform on paper, in the field, and for years to come.