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BUSINESS NEWS FLUOR ANNOUNCES FINANCIAL CLOSE ON MARYLAND PURPLE LINE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT PROJECT Fluor Corporation announced that its Purple Line Transit Partners team reached financial close to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Purple Line project for the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transit Administration. Fluor is participating in the entire 36-year life cycle of the $5.6 billion project, which includes a $2 billion design-build contract. The company brings robust public-private partnership experience and industry-leading ability to successfully finance and manage complex megaprojects. Fluor plans to book its share of the contract value this quarter. The financing includes an $874.6 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan from the United States Department of Transportation and $313 million in “Green Bonds” from Private Activity Bonds underwritten by JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets. Supported by contracts backed by the investment grade credit ratings of the

Maryland Commonwealth Transportation Trust Fund and Fluor Corporation, the bonds were sold at the lowest interest rates ever achieved in the U.S. P3 market, which generated significant savings for MTA. “Fluor and our partners have successfully achieved financial close through innovative financing and proven integrated solutions approaches that result in a long-term partnership with the state of Maryland to design, build, finance, operate and maintain this world-class project,” said Hans Dekker, president of Fluor’s infrastructure business. Fluor is the managing partner of the design- build team, Purple Line Transit Constructors, and subcontractor Atkins North America, Inc. is the lead designer. The Purple Line Transit Constructors team has begun initial design and survey work with construction slated to start later this year and passenger service scheduled for early 2022. Located in the Washington Metropolitan Region, the project includes 21 stations along a 16-mile alignment extending from Bethesda,

Maryland, in Montgomery County to New Carrollton, Maryland, in Prince George’s County. This new line will provide connections to several existing transit providers and improve mobility to major economic and job centers. “Purple Line Transit Partners is pleased to reach financial close on this important project,” said Herb Morgan, CEO, Purple Line Transit Partners. “This milestone, plus the recent Board of Works action approving the P3 contract, solidifies Maryland’s leadership in protecting and enhancing the state’s fiscal integrity by advancing a public- private partnership project that will transfer construction, operation, maintenance and performance risks to the private partners all while ensuring riders and stakeholders receive improved mobility, environmental compliance and safety. Our team is looking forward to working with Maryland communities to start construction later this year and deliver this innovative project at a fixed-price and on schedule.”

employees come in and meet with prospective candidates. They can articulate their experience and help sell the company at the peer level. Most teams that went after Durant had some of their current players in the room to speak to him about life on the team from their perspective. This approach helps a candidate to envision what life would be like working for the firm. The Warriors went the extra distance by flying in Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala – all of them 2015 NBA champs. According to Durant, this level of attention to detail in the recruitment process made the difference for him and led to him joining the Warriors. You may not be in the market to recruit one of the best players in the world, but you can take a few things away from the process. Take stock of how your firm recruits and see if there are any modifications that could improve the candidate experience. If there are, make the adjustments. And don’t be afraid to go big. Every candidate that you recruit needs to be treated with the utmost care and should have a clear understanding of the benefits of joining your firm. If you take the stance that you are doing them a favor by meeting with and interviewing them, you run the risk of alienating your firm from someone who could be a real asset. It never hurts to put your best foot forward at all times, especially in the recruitment process. You never know, you may be interviewing the next MVP, I mean CEO, of your firm. RANDY WILBURN is director of executive search at Zweig Group. Contact him at rwilburn@zweiggroup.com. “Every candidate that you recruit needs to be treated with the utmost care and should have a clear understanding of the benefits of joining your firm.”

RANDY WILBURN, from page 5

recruitment process that design firms can learn from: ❚ When trying to hire, you always want to put your best people on the job. Your hiring managers should be able to represent the organization not just from a discipline and technical standpoint, but also a cultural standpoint as well. This ap- proach will speak volumes to anyone that you’re recruiting. ❚ In the 11th hour, the Warriors brought in NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West to speak to Durant. According to sources involved in the process, West said a few things to Durant that made a difference. West talked about what it means to win champion- ships and what it’s like to be part of a team with great players. A good hiring manager will help a candidate understand what they’re getting themselves into and why joining their firm will help the individual grow from a personal and professional perspective. “A good hiring manager will help a candidate understand what they’re getting themselves into and why joining their firm will help the individual grow from a personal and professional perspective.” ❚ Every NBA team in the process had a plan for how they were going to approach Durant. Recruiting good candidates re- quires you to have a strong plan in place to ensure you answer any question or concerns that the candidate has so they can make an informed decision. Firms should highlight the great projects they are working on. You want to help the candidate visualize how they will fit into the grand scheme of things within your organization. A clear articulation of how the can- didate can advance within the firm is also necessary. ❚ Firms should also consider having some of its most talented

THE ZWEIG LETTER August 15, 2016, ISSUE 1164

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