Dusty Allen: From Chemical Engineer to Industrial Market Lead
You never know where you’ll end up after 32 years in the industry. For Dusty Allen, our Industrial Market Sector Lead, it meant embracing new opportunities. After working his way up from chemical engineer to plant leader, he changed careers and joined Clark Nexsen, where he now leads our industrial market sector. Now nearly four years into his career at Clark Nexsen, he has learned that the experience you build in one career can carry over into the next. We sat down with him to discuss how it all unfolded and how his many years on the manufacturing side shape his understanding of our clients.
Tell us about your background. How did you first get into chemical engineering?
I grew up in central Georgia, surrounded by the kaolin industry. Kaolin, a white clay used in products such as paper, paint, and plastics, was the backbone of the local economy. As a kid, I noticed that the people I knew with strong livelihoods were engineers. I already loved math and chemistry, so it felt like a natural fit. By eighth or ninth grade, I’d decided to pursue engineering.
With my career goals in mind, I landed a summer job at a local kaolin company. That job became a co-op position I held while attending Georgia Tech, and with those earnings and scholarships, I paid my own way. I graduated debt-free and became the first in my family to earn a college degree.
What was your career change from chemical engineer in manufacturing to project manager at Clark Nexsen like, and what advice would you give others?
For 32 years, I built my career in manufacturing. I’d watched management change hands many times. When the company was sold again in 2022, I assumed I’d keep doing the same job under a different name. Instead, the new owner eliminated my position.
A few months earlier, Robert Carlton, who led Clark Nexsen’s industrial market, had mentioned there might be a role for me if I ever wanted to try something different. When my job ended, I called him. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d fit in at an architecture and engineering firm, and walking away from an industry I’d known for more than three decades was a big leap. I took it anyway, and on my eighth day, I was on a plane to meet potential clients overseas. Looking back, it was a little crazy, but Robert and the company’s trust in me made all the difference.
I started at Clark Nexsen as a project manager. I became a practice lead for our industrial practice as we rebuilt the team, and when Robert retired, I stepped into the role of industrial market sector lead.
My advice for anyone in a similar situation: Take a chance. It may sound cliché, but you never know where you’ll end up or what you’ll learn along the way. This has been a refreshing change, and I’m building new skills in a role I truly enjoy.
Projects like Unified Legacy Group’s new facility in Macon, Georgia, support the defense, aerospace, data center, and construction sectors while bringing 500 new jobs to the region.
What should people know about the industrial clients we design for?
Most people never step inside a manufacturing plant, yet they interact with what they make every day. It’s likely that something produced in one of these plants is within 30 feet of you right now. Much of what these facilities make is intermediate products the end consumer never sees, but they end up in something you buy. For example, take a look at the Unified Legacy Group’s new facility that we just broke ground on here in Macon. Most of us will never see the parts it fabricates, but they’re essential to industries we all rely on, like aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and more.
For industrial clients, everything starts with one question: What are you making? Before we design anything, we need to understand the product and the process behind it, because that process becomes the foundation of the design. Sometimes we must fit it into a building the client already has, and sometimes we get to design the building around it. I once heard someone say, “Let’s first make it work and then make it pretty.” Function comes first in a plant, but we still look for ways to make it a better place to work.
How does your background in manufacturing shape the way you work with clients?
After graduating with my degree in chemical engineering, I worked in my hometown at one of the major kaolin companies in the area. I started my career there as a process engineer, which became the foundation of my technical experience. In that role, I focused on understanding a process from start to finish and finding ways to make it easier for those doing the work. This mindset guides my approach at Clark Nexsen. I work alongside our mechanical engineers to select and arrange equipment so the process flows. Because I’ve been on the client’s side, I understand what they’re looking for and can translate their goals into an efficient design.
Three decades in the tight-knit manufacturing community have also shaped how I work with people, and I have built a strong network along the way. Early in my career, I honed my people skills as a Labor Relations Manager working in HR. That experience taught me the importance of connecting with people on a personal level. Clients can tell right away when someone is faking it, so I make sure they see that I genuinely care about their goals.
Additionally, strategic planning was central to my work in manufacturing, and now that I’m responsible for our industrial market sector’s strategy, I draw on that experience daily. Knowing how to plan for the long term and manage complex work helps me set a clear direction for our team.
Dusty, left, and Tad Dance, right, forging new connections for the Industrial Market Sector at the GMA Annual Meeting.
What motivates you in your role as our Industrial Market Sector Lead?
After nearly four years at Clark Nexsen, I’m still excited to keep our team growing and working with our clients. Almost every day feels like an episode of “How It’s Made,” and I recently learned how juice bottles are made. Our clients are so unique, and no two projects are the same.
The people I work with keep me moving forward, too. We have talented, developing professionals in our Macon office, and our senior leadership and I get to help them grow professionally. I love being part of a team like this, and that relationship side of the role is incredibly fulfilling.
Now that we’re part of JMT, we have the opportunity to accelerate our growth. With a broader geographic footprint, we’re forming connections across offices and industries, and I look forward to delivering great projects for industrial clients nationwide.
Dusty Allen is the Industrial Market Sector Lead at Clark Nexsen, based in our Macon office, with more than 30 years of experience in the industrial market. Before joining the firm, he spent his career in manufacturing as a chemical engineer and plant leader, with specialized knowledge of minerals processing, petroleum and chemical refining, and the equipment that keeps these facilities running. That background gives him firsthand insight into the processes our industrial clients depend on. To speak with Dusty, please email dustin.allen@clarknexsen.com or call 478.743.8415.
Looking to work with people like Dusty? We’re hiring curious, dedicated professionals across the firm. Check out our open positions.
