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BUSINESS NEWS TETRA TECH WINS $464 MILLION MULTIPLE-AWARD CONTRACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION SERVICES Tetra Tech, Inc., a leading provider of high-end consulting and engineering services, announced that the U.S. Army awarded the Company a $464 million, multiple-award contract to provide environmental assessment and remediation services at Army installations throughout the United States. Under the five-year contract, Tetra Tech will investigate and remediate hazardous and toxic waste, including persistent compounds such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Tetra Tech’s

scientists, engineers, and technical specialists will perform investigations, implement remedial actions, and conduct munitions response activities. Our teams will combine advanced subject matter expertise with in-house Tetra Tech Delta technologies to provide innovative solutions including PFAS data analytics and AI-enabled mapping. “Tetra Tech has supported the U.S. Department of Defense for decades to safely address potentially harmful contaminants at its facilities and in the surrounding environment,” said Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech chairman and CEO. “We are pleased to use our Leading

with Science® approach to continue supporting the U.S. Army in protecting the safety of our service members and the health of the environment.” Tetra Tech is the leader in water, environment, and sustainable infrastructure, providing high-end consulting and engineering services for projects worldwide. With 28,000 employees working together, Tetra Tech provides clear solutions to complex problems by Leading with Science® to address the entire water cycle, protect and restore the environment, design sustainable and resilient infrastructure, and support the clean energy transition.

paychecks to invest in the company should be allowed to do so. It doesn’t mean they will all be managers or have veto power over anything but they will have a chance to build value if they defer short-term compensation. That is a big part of what being an entrepreneur is about. 8. Emphasize revenue growth, cash flow, and firm value over short-term profitability. Value creation is what motivates the entrepreneur versus short-term profits. The real value of your firm lies in your revenue growth rate versus a multiple of historic EBIT. Just take a look at how software companies are valued and what their multiples of revenue are if you don’t believe me. So stop acting like stodgy old low growth “practice-centered” businesses, and instead act like those who build incredible value in their companies. 9. Promote those who act like entrepreneurs versus those who are the best architects or engineers or who have been there the longest. You can’t say you want more entrepreneurial people and then act like a bureaucratic government organization in terms of who moves up in the hierarchy. And when I say “promote,” I am not only referring to job promotions. I’m also referring to whose accomplishments you talk about both inside and outside of the company. That sends signals, and your people will notice! 10. Put successful entrepreneurs on your board of directors. Successful entrepreneurs – not just retired people from government agencies, your regular outside accountant or attorney – will help you run your firm more entrepreneurially. Get them on your board. It’s affordable. And you will get far more out of doing this than it will cost you. These 10 things WILL make a difference IF you are serious about making your people more entrepreneurial. So do them! Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

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and take action on it. This will show your people you are serious about this subject. 3. Formally recognize employees who demonstrate speed and responsiveness. Entrepreneurs move faster than bureaucratic firms. So be sure to point out and recognize those who are extra-responsive and move quickly at everything. Make them the “heroes of the day” versus just focusing on who got registered or who has been there the longest. 4. Institutionalize innovation initiatives in the business planning process. I have talked about this for years but the idea has seen little implementation from what I can see. And that idea is to make it a requirement for each of your revenue-generating business unit leaders to come up with new stuff every single year. New services. New ways to package services. New ways to market those services. “New” means continuous innovation versus resting on your laurels and not evolving. 5. Get rid of your formal job descriptions and fixed pay rates, and reduce versus increase the number of job titles you have. This kind of bureaucracy kills entrepreneurial spirit. Why do more if you are an “Engineer 3” and your rewards are capped? That kind of policy and practice kills entrepreneurial spirit versus encouraging it. And by the way – the more silly titles you have that don’t really mean anything, the worse morale is going to be. 6. Treat everyone in the firm like an owner. Share the numbers and the profits with everyone. Open-book management combined with frequent sharing of cash basis profits gets people thinking more like owners and less like alienated and exploited employees. And that’s entrepreneurial! 7. Sell small amounts of ownership to those who want to make sacrifices to get it. Don’t just try to get everyone acting like owners. Instead, how about actually making them owners? Those who want to sacrifice some of the

THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 3, 2024, ISSUE 1540

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