July 12, 2022

A confident and resilient A/E industry entered 2022 confronting a range of macroeconomic and structural headwinds. Escalating inflation, lingering supply chain disruptions, and recession anxieties have added to existing company challenges of acute talent shortages and remobilizing staff to offices. To help us understand how firms are adapting, I connected with several prominent women A/E leaders from across the country for our annual Mid-Year Outlook. I wanted to know how their firms have fared so far this year, what client and business opportunities are emerging, how the A/E industry can attract more women to the profession, and what’s on tap for summer reading lists and vacation plans.

Tell us about Larson Design Group (LDG) and your capabilities and markets. 

LDG is an integrated architecture, engineering, and professional consulting services firm consisting of over 400 employee-owners servicing a wide variety of markets - Commercial, Education, Energy, Federal/State/Local Government, Healthcare, Light Industrial, Retail, Transportation, and Water/Wastewater - through multi-discipline teams.  Our ever expanding capabilities bring client projects to life across the country and across diverse industries.  Overall, LDG bears testament to the fact that the fusion of core values and a formidable culture create successful outcomes for an organization and all those connected to it!

How does the second half of the year look and going into 2023? Any specific business or client opportunities or challenges?

For us, the second half of 2022 is ripe with opportunity. We are poised to apply lessons learned in the first half of the year and to tackle head-on the economic and business challenges of 2022. The retention and continued development of LDG’s passionate employee-owners continues to be a critical success factor for the firm and will remain a priority in the second half of the year. Recruitment efforts are also underway to support LDG’s growth and the eclectic needs of our clients. M&A and strategic teaming opportunities are also on our radar for the remainder of the year.

In 2021, LDG acquired Oklahoma-based LWPB. What was the motivation for the firms coming together and what do they bring to LDG?

LWPB’s emphasis on creating a diverse and inclusive practice that promotes excellence in a supportive and collaborative environment made for an incredibly strong cultural fit. The alignment of operational philosophies and the synergies created by the partnership between both firms made this step a no-brainer! As a combined company, our ability to provide increased opportunities for employee career development and mobility opportunities is already evident. Lastly, LWPBs solid presence and reputation in the South-Central region as well as the firm’s expertise in several complementary markets has provided the opportunity to present to clients a much wider breadth of services as a stronger enterprise.

What spurred your career interest in accounting and finance? What advice would you give aspiring CFOs? 

Providence; the guidance of my incredibly talented parents; and the mentorship of many selfless teachers led to my choice of a career in Accounting. As an international student in my freshman year at Michigan State University, my sole desire was to simply do well. I started off as a General Business – PreLaw major in hopes that I would walk in my mother’s shoes as an Attorney. Accounting 101 for me was life-changing! The material made sense and came to me easily. In many ways, I found a sense of purpose when I quickly transitioned into a teaching assistant role for the same class and found myself helping my peers sort through their questions on the material. My advice to aspiring CFOs: intentionally develop a desire to lift others as you climb whatever ladders are placed before you. And then just watch…oh the places you’ll go!

Overall, what can the industry do better to attract women into the A/E professions and STEM careers? What steps has LDG taken there? 

I believe that displaying the immense personal and professional development opportunities presented by careers in the A/E industry and tailoring this to girls and young women starting in the K-12 years is a meaningful way to achieve such targeted recruiting. A/E professionals are catalysts for solving problems and bringing visions to reality in larger-than-life doses from the most intricate to the most magnificent designs across the globe. Tangibly showcasing this connection will spur the interest of young women. LDG’s intentional efforts towards diversity in recruiting date back over 10 years. The firm and its employees do not relent in active participation in and sponsorship of STEM events in the areas where our employees work and live.

What’s on your summer reading list?

As a children’s Bible Study teacher at my local Church (alongside my husband), the summer is always a great time to catch up on lesson planning. It is both embarrassing and impressive whenever we get stumped by questions from our 3 to 8 year-old students (including our own children)! It inspires us to take our personal study more seriously! There are several books of the Bible that we intend to dive into this summer.

Tell us about Bala and your capabilities and markets

Bala Consulting Engineers is a 200+ person firm with offices in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.  Founded in 1982, we serve clients nationally via our Mechanical, Electrical, Structures, Technology, Commissioning, and Sustainability Practice Groups. We engineer innovative and future focused designs for our clients in multiple markets including education, mission critical, science + innovation, high-rise, corporate, mixed-use, life care, and transportation. 

How does the second half of the year look and going into 2023? Any specific business or client opportunities or challenges?

The next twelve months appear to be strong, and our backlog is at an all-time high. We are very conscious of the current economic conditions and are tightening the belt to prepare for a possible recession. It is very easy for a firm to get comfortable when things are going well. Our leadership team is constantly strategizing on how to stay ahead of the curve. There are concerns that the developer market could be challenged due to supply chain issues, raising interest rates and higher inflation. We are looking at markets that are less sensitive to the economy, such as, the mission critical and educational sectors. Another opportunity for Bala is to utilize our expertise in sustainable design and educate our clients on optimal solutions for their project’s needs. 

Bala recently celebrated its 40th Anniversary. What sentiments do you have on that special milestone of longevity and success?

It is a huge accomplishment and a testament to the firm that Michael Anastasio founded. Not only was Michael a great engineer, but he was a smart businessman with strong core values. We have run the company conservatively which has allowed Bala to withstand the peaks and valleys of this cyclical industry. Michael and I have come from firms that struggled with financial issues and vowed to never allow that to happen at Bala. It is very important to have good financial data, forecast trends and to always stay ahead of the market whether it is finding a new market, a focus on technology or finding the next acquisition to enhance our capabilities. 

You were recently elevated into the CEO role. What have been some of your initial goals or priorities?

My initial goals and priorities are to continue the growth of the company while improving the bottom line. This is pretty standard for all CEO’s but I am focused on inspiring the team. The pandemic changed how employees view companies and the workplace. Bala made the tough decision to return to the office full-time and felt it was necessary for collaboration and innovation to occur. This is a collaborative business and the team works best when they are together. 

We are currently focusing on providing a work environment that makes it enjoyable for our employees to come to.  We are improving our offices with various amenities such as shuffleboard tables or cold brew, increased employee recognition on social media, and a deliberate focus on DEI initiatives.  Bala wants to build an inclusive environment where everyone feels their ideas and opinions are valued.

Overall, what can the industry do better to attract women into the engineering profession and STEM careers? What steps has Bala taken there?

The industry needs to target young women in the high school years when they are deciding on their future careers. Bala has a strong internship program not only at the collegiate level, but also the high school level. We have several dozen high school students come in each year and shadow our team. The students meet with all aspects of the business, to get a full understanding of the industry and they also have the opportunity to visit project sites. We are starting to see an increase in female interns which is exciting for the industry! 

What are your plans this summer for rest and relaxation?

Spending time with my family and friends is how I like to rest and relax. During the pandemic, we decided to have a pool put in our backyard. Two years later… the pool is finally done and you can find me enjoying it on the weekends!

Tell us about Verdantas and your capabilities and markets. 

Verdantas is an environmental, engineering, and technical consulting company with a people-first focus.  We solve complex problems in the natural and built environments, and are able to offer a suite of environmental, energy, water, civil infrastructure, and green and sustainable engineering services throughout various markets, including real estate, industrial, water, energy, technology, transportation and government sectors. 

How does the second half of the year look and going into 2023? Any specific business or client opportunities or challenges? 

We have a strong and growing backlog of work in the environmental and civil infrastructure sectors. Specifically, we are see a significant uptick in client requests for work in the Energy, Industrial, Real Estate, Transportation, and Water related sectors as funds begin to flow from the various Federal and State infrastructure and brownfields bills. The primary challenge facing our business today is keeping up with the hiring demands as the backlog continues to grow. We have added additional capabilities to our recruiting team, and are placing additional focus on retention activities and career development trainings to keep our good people engaged and growing their careers at Verdantas in these competitive market dynamics!

You joined Verdantas last year after spending most of your career working at very large engineering and environmental firms. What attracted you to the company? 

That’s correct - most of my 26 year career has been with larger engineering and environmental companies such as URS, HDR and ERM. I’ve been in various technical, business development and operations/P&L leadership roles over these years and have had excellent mentors along the way. That said, I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and Verdantas offered me the opportunity to work with a strong leadership team to start something new from the ground up, putting our fingerprints on the development of a new endeavor that will provide significant benefits to our communities and our built environments. It is exciting to be able to utilize my experiences and skillsets to help launch Verdantas as a new company, scale the company towards continued strategic growth, and mentor talented younger generations of leaders in developing their own leadership “muscles”. 

Verdantas has recently grown through a number of acquisitions. What do you generally look for in companies and your formula for integrations? 

Verdantas was built by combining 5 separate acquisitions into one company.  There was an enormous lift in integrating/merging these companies - their policies, procedures, strategic goals, ERP platform, and technical staff, the integration into Verdantas. It was successful because of the quality of the cultures and people in the 5 groups that were the founding pillars of Verdantas. We knew that it would be vitally important to ensure that each acquisition had a similar culture when it came to critical business performance areas like investing in next generation leadership, staff development, good business performance, and excellent client service philosophy.  In fact, we have specifically turned away from potential acquisitions due to what was perceived as a mismatch in culture. Aligning on the key components of company culture that we knew we wanted to build in Verdantas made it much easier to pull together an extended leadership team with similar values, business acumen, and drive to create a sustainable and growing business. 

Overall, what can the industry do better to attract women into the engineering profession and STEM careers? What steps has Verdantas taken there? 

This is an area I’m quite passionate about, so I appreciate you asking the question!  To attract more women into the STEM space, I think we can focus on making more women in STEM visible to younger generations of females so that they can envision this as a potential career path for themselves.  For example, Verdantas sponsors participation in organizations such as Women’s Mining Coalition, CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), and other similar organizations that showcase our female staff in these technical and leadership positions.  In this way we are promoting and making our female STEM technical leaders visible to younger generations, and even facilitating mentoring relationships with the younger generations. 

We can also attract more diversity into STEM careers by supporting a culture of flexibility and life-work balance.  For example, Verdantas has a flexible work policy, and we allow our staff to work remote as long as they are able to connect with their teams, partner with our clients well on their objectives, and achieve high quality deliverables. We actively encourage our employees to ensure they are achieving life-work balance, and are flexible in how they approach these goals. These types of intentional focus areas can help us pave the way for more women in the STEM fields. 

What are your plans this summer for rest and relaxation?

There is nothing we enjoy more in the summer than getting outside in the mountains with the family and our Australian Shepherd Sage! We like to rock climb, so we are spending some weekends in the Clear Creek Canyon and Eldorado Canyon in Colorado.  Our dog has really taken to paddle boarding, so we’ll make sure to spend some time paddling in the lakes and staying cool too!

Tell us about Mead & Hunt and your capabilities and markets. 

Founded in 1900, Mead & Hunt is now a Top 100 engineering and architectural firm that provides diversified services nationwide. With a team of over 1,200 professionals in more than 40 offices across the US, Mead & Hunt supports several key markets, including aviation, transportation, food and beverage, federal, state and local governments, and water. Our strong, people-first values have guided us since our inception and continue to inform our actions as we move forward.

How does the second half of the year look and going into 2023? Any specific business or client opportunities or challenges?

Busy! Our companywide backlog stands at 18 months, which is unprecedented. Even in our EPC group—with their fast-paced renewable energy and food/beverage projects—backlog is exceptionally high. The challenge is continuing to satisfy clients’ needs and expectations without running staff into the ground. We’ve hired nearly 150 people since January, not including the 140 people we’ve added through a merger with Symbiont. Mead & Hunt has always taken a long-term perspective that puts people first, so we’re working hard to balance high demand in all markets with sustainable growth and employee well-being. Opportunities in water/wastewater have been really strong and we’re seeing growing demand for EPC project delivery. 

You have an influential role in Mead & Hunt’s acquisition efforts. Tell us how your recent deals have advanced the firm’s skills and growth.

As an owner and board member of Mead & Hunt, I see diversified growth as essential to fulfilling our vision to pass along a successful business to the next generation of employee owners. Water/wastewater has been among our top strategic priorities for ten years. It has also been a personal passion of mine due to the importance safe, reliable water holds for our communities. Four acquisitions since 2014 have significantly expanded our water/wastewater capabilities and fueled our geographic growth—notably in Texas and Florida. Two other mergers—one being our most recent merger with Symbiont—extend our private work and add to our sustainability portfolio, which are both key to our market diversification strategy.

In approaching a deal, I love meeting with firm owners, hearing their strategic goals, communicating Mead & Hunt’s vision and values to them, and figuring out together if the joining of our firms will create a new entity that’s greater than the sum of its parts. I enjoy getting to work with the dynamic people we’ve brought on board and find it exciting to see our experience grow with services such as design-build, renewable natural gas, and process design. 

As a long-tenured Mead & Hunt leader, what reflections or memorable highlights stand out from your time here?

Even I find this hard to believe since my daily experiences continue to feel very new. When I reflect, I see a huge amount of positive change that has transpired. I am comforted by the stability and consistency of the culture and strategic direction of Mead & Hunt. A vivid memory for me is my first shareholder meeting in 1997—I was the only woman in a room of about 35. Now we have three women on our board, and I am rarely the only woman in a meeting. 

I also clearly recall the angst we had opening our first out-of-state office in the late 1990s—in California, which is of course a long way from Wisconsin. It required a lot of changes to help teams collaborate. Now we’re comfortable working in every state, as well as remotely! We continue to maintain a family feel, though I’ll admit to no longer knowing everyone’s name. 

Overall, what can the industry do better to attract women into the engineering profession and STEM careers? 

This is a challenging topic, and one that requires a multifaceted approach to make progress without becoming discouraged. We know the numbers today—27% of professionals who specialize in Architecture and Engineering are women, and in Construction, the percentage is only 11% (see US Bureau of Labor Statistics). 

Overall, Mead & Hunt is 29% women. I’m committed to advancing foresight in our company and industry, both as a leader of innovation at Mead & Hunt and through my involvement with the Engineering Change Lab-USA.  Being more inclusive is a huge part of this. Looking ahead, I foresee that innovation and sustainability will encourage more women to not only pursue AEC careers, but also find it rewarding enough to stay in the industry long term. Concrete steps to take in the near term include reaching out to diverse youth to introduce engineering and STEM careers, supporting and sponsoring women at different career stages, and increasing the visibility of women in the industry. Today, we strive to create an inclusive and psychologically safe culture at work, which can make a huge difference in helping women and other underrepresented groups feel they belong.

What steps has Mead & Hunt taken there? 

The biggest step we’ve taken is to better organize our diversity efforts by establishing an Employee Resource Group (ERG) in 2018 and then adding Program Managers to lead it. These efforts benefit employees overall, but they are especially impactful for women and other minority groups in the company. Having meaningful spaces to explore common challenges and share a sense of community is vital. We know women are more likely to be caregivers and spend more of their time in this role than do men (see Women and Caregiving: Facts and Figures - Family Caregiver Alliance). This can have ramifications for women professionally. Through the ERG and efforts of staff, Mead & Hunt has made important progress in these areas such as: flexible schedules and supportive policies regarding remote work, external and internal scholarships, a youth outreach program (KidSTEAM) to introduce elementary to college students to STEAM and Mead & Hunt, and a pilot program with academia to educate ourselves and eventually others (clients, partners) on tools and methods to design and build social, environmental, and climate-just infrastructure. 

What are your plans this summer for rest and relaxation?

My husband and I are taking a week at our lake house in far northern Wisconsin with a couple of old friends. One is a fishing expert who’s agreed to explain to me how to use the gear (boat, poles, reels) we inherited from the previous cabin owner. It’s not a great time for actually catching fish since it’s too warm, but just sitting on the lake with my cellphone on shore will be relaxing. I’m also looking forward to swimming, kayaking and throwing a ball for our younger Lab to retrieve—all while the older Lab sleeps on the dock.

Tell us about FHI Studio and your capabilities and markets. 

FHI Studio is a planning and design firm.  We offer thoughtful, comprehensive solutions to the communities that we serve in the areas of transportation and mobility, community planning, environmental planning and community engagement.  We are a women-owned business with over 50 employees with clients in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.  Our core values of community, strategy and connection have caused us to be a strong company and these values have been the hallmark for our growth over the years.

How does the second half of the year look and going into 2023? Any specific business or client opportunities or challenges?

I am very optimistic about the second half of 2022 and the future of FHI Studio.  Recent legislation in Congress concerning this country’s infrastructure emphasizes the purpose and the need for the work that we enjoy doing. Federal, state and local agencies as well as municipalities are investing in the infrastructure in their communities.  Furthermore, we are seeing more opportunities to serve in underrepresented and underserved communities.

This year, FHI acquired Connecticut-based ToDesign. What was the motivation for the firms coming together and what do they bring to FHI?

The acquisition of ToDesign created a partnership that was definitely a win-win for both firms. For ToDesign, it was an opportunity to expand resources and services to their clients beyond landscape architecture. For FHI Studio, it was a great opportunity to expand our growing design practice. We found that FHI Studio and ToDesign had shared values which created an exciting synergy throughout the acquisition process. With this new partnership, FHI Studio is able to take our solutions from planning to design for community spaces such as parks, recreational facilities, trails, housing, complete streets and other public spaces.

You were recently elevated into the President role. What has changed in your duties and do you have any new goals or priorities? 

In my new role, my oversight of day-to-day operations and services has broadened. What’s personally exciting for me is I get to strengthen my creative, strategic, and problem-solving muscles. However, the most significant change is the responsibility of carrying the tone and setting the expectations of the company.  As President, I believe that it is very critical that I have even stronger communication skills and continue to inspire all those I lead. My focus is to create an internal structure that supports our team and our growth, push forward strategies and initiatives that will advance the company’s strategic growth plan, and continue fostering connections with our internal community and the communities we serve.

Overall, what can the industry do better to attract women into the engineering profession and STEM careers? What steps has FHI taken there? 

Attracting women into the engineering profession and STEM careers must first start with awareness and an introduction to the range and diversity of potential careers to young girls at a very early age.  Developing programs that supplement academic curriculums should be considered to spark interest and exploration of the field. A program developed to introduce females to engineering that I attended while in high school was exactly what led me to Civil Engineering and to the transportation industry. 

FHI Studio has always supported professional organizations that support the advancement of women into the transportation industry. We have been directly involved in high schools and colleges assisting with the development of career programs, facilitating panel discussions and workshops, and sharing personal experiences.

What’s on your summer reading list?

This summer, I am focused on reading Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture & Success with the Soul System by Ralph Specht and The Leaders’ Guide to Unconscious Bias by Pamela Fuller. I’m excited about what I will learn from these authors’ perspectives about creating and sustaining a company’s culture that is inclusive, connected, rewarding, and purposeful!