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ON THE MOVE

BUSINESS NEWS REVIZTO RELEASES MULTI-LANGUAGE VERSION Re- vizto , a real-time visual collaboration tool for build- ing projects, has made a product localization. A new multi-language version comes with the latest release Revizto 3.7 and is free to download. All Revizto applications now support eight lan- guages: English, German, Spanish, French, Chi- nese (Simplified), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, and Japanese. “In the future, the range of languages will be ex- tended and new languages added,” the company said in a news release. “By localizing our apps into most-used world languages, we target to satisfy rising global customer demand for Revizto and de- liver an exceptional overall user experience.” The launch of the Revizto Global Server Network is another major development that comes to life with the Revizto 3.7. Apart from the United States, Re- vizto’s Global Server Network now comprises re- gional servers in Brasil, Ireland, Japan, Singapore ,and Australia. DODGE MOMENTUM INDEX JUMPS IN SEPTEMBER The Dodge Momentum Index moved 5.8 percent high- er in September to 133.5 from its August reading of 126.2. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first report for nonresidential building proj- ects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The impetus behind September’s gain was a 12 percent increase from the previ- ous month in institutional building planning. State and local budgets, which finance many projects in the institutional category, continue to recover from their recessionary weakness. With this support, planning for new institutional buildings has trended upward over the past year, although in a saw-tooth pattern. Commercial construction, on the other

PM ENVIRONMENTAL WELCOMES BOB DRAKE AS SENIOR CONSULTANT AND REGIONAL MANAGER PM Environ- mental (Lansing, MI) welcomes Bob Drake as a senior consultant and regional manager of its Scotts- dale, Arizona, operations. The addi- tion of Drake will continue to solid- ify PM’s western expansion. Drake comes to PM with more than 30 years of national public- and private- sector service in various areas of the environmental profession, including environmental chemistry, waste treatment, remediation compliance, permitting, and due diligence. Throughout his career, Drake has successfully leveraged his business relationships throughout the U.S. to establish strategic partnerships and grow business. For the past 15 years, Drake owned Western States Environmental LLC, a client-based consulting firm that provided Phase I and II environmental site assess- ments for several FHA multifam- ily projects. The firm also provided regulatory compliance audits for a number of commercial/industrial fa- cilities, and conducted remediation and Brownfield projects as well as asbestos, lead paint, and radon sur- veys. The firm staffed up to six pro- fessionals, had a client list of more than 100 companies, and complet- ed projects spanning from Atlanta to Maui, Hawaii.

hand, is at a more mature stage of its recovery and planning has been relatively more stable. Planning in the commercial category increased 1.8 percent in September. There were eight projects entering planning in Sep- tember with a value that exceeded $100 million, split equally between commercial and institutional projects. In the commercial building sector, a $330 million office building for Fannie Mae in Washington D.C. and a $150 million alteration of an office com- plex in Plano, Texas, entered planning. Within the institutional building sector, a $400 million hospital in Rockford, Illinois, and a $230 million clinic addi- tion in Weston, Florida, entered planning. CONSTRUCTION LEADERS PROMOTE INDUSTRY ON CAPITOL HILL Leaders of Carolinas AGC , the con- struction industry association of the Carolinas, descended on Washington D.C. in September for an annual AGC National & Chapter Leadership Conference that included visits with key members of the Congressional delegations in the Carolinas about construction issues, such as: Passage of a multi-year transportation bill to fund federal highway and transit programs Opposition to a federal rule that expands Environmental Protection Agency jurisdiction over navigable waters without further clarification Promotion of a sound approach to immigration Ensuring that reforms to tax and spending policy promote long-term economic growth “We hit a home run on Capitol Hill by encourag- ing members of Congress and their staff to take common-sense approaches to major construction issues,” said James Braswell, chair of the CAGC Board of Directors.

STEVEN LUCY, from page 3

standards are maintained. Your level of accountability and that of your staff cannot change because you are in a different office. Commit to face-time. Emails and phone calls will never re- place the value of face to face communication. Although web based tools offer some advantages in setting up remote of- fices, a web camera and speakerphone will never fully convey body language, facial expressions, or tone. Being in the mo- ment with your team is indispensable. A well-executed expansion can provide enhanced benefits to your firm, but there must be compelling reasons why you are allocating your time and resources toward expansion into a new location. Managing multi-office operations requires establishment of clear protocols regarding work product, staffing, and client relationships. Many of these operational processes may be different than those used when you were a single office, but failure to address these issues will put you at risk with your clients and staff. If you are prepared for these challenges, you are on the right path for growth. STEPHEN LUCY is managing partner at JQ in Dallas, TX. Contact him at slucy@jqeng.com.

as the needs of the main office. If a remote office is asking for your input it is probably for a good reason and you need to respect their needs. Share the workload. This can be a top benefit of multiple of- fices. Work sharing among offices enables you to provide sup- port where it is needed most, based on client relationships, staff expertise, and staffing capacity. Your two-person local office can be portrayed as a 100-person firm and compete against larger local firms. If you are in a sought after city, you can also use it as a recruitment tool to place staff in a desired living location. Of course, in sending work to another office, there must be adequate oversight and checks and balances to ensure that the client’s expectations are met and that your quality “A well-executed expansion can provide enhanced benefits to your firm, but there must be compelling reasons why you are allocating your time and resources toward expansion into a new location.”

THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVEMBER 16, 2015, ISSUE 1128

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