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TRANSACT IONS ISG EXPANDS OFFICES TO GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN ISG (Best Firm Multi Discipline #22 and Hot Firm #58 for 2016) acquired Green Bay-based Raasch Engineers | Architects , the eighth location for the multidisciplinary firm. For more than 20 years, Raasch Engineers | Architects has provided professional design services to some of the largest and most recognizable industrial clients. Raasch Engineers | Architects has also established solid roots within the state and other critical industries such as healthcare, commercial, and government. With expertise in architecture, steam and power, process, electrical engineering, and structural and

mechanical engineering, Raasch Engineers | Architects increases ISG’s professional team to more than 230. “ISG was no stranger to the expertise-driven reputation that Raasch Engineers | Architects prided itself on, as we have partnered on projects in the past. ISG’s growth in Wisconsin, with significant expansion in La Crosse and now in Green Bay, helps us support even more opportunities with other clients throughout the upper Midwest and nationwide,” said Chad Surprenant, ISG president and CEO. “Raasch Engineers | Architects had defined

strategic opportunities, such as this acquisition, in recent business plans as combining forces with a progressive, entrepreneurial, and driven firm like ISG synced perfectly with our future goals, desires, and client approach. We will now be able to offer past and present Raasch Engineers | Architects clients the same responsive and creative services, with the added power, creativity, and strategic approach that ISG has built over the past 40 years,” stated Gary Schneider, former Raasch Engineers | Architects president, and current ISG Green Bay office leader and architect.

JAY THORNTON, from page 9

Value and made visible to the entire company. One Monday morning a company executive noted on a post that, “I would never had known we had a full office of people working this weekend if it were not for YEI.” This is a very high-level look at taking ownership of your “homepage.” This takes a determined and ongoing effort to maintain. Also, digital marketing, social media, and web content should always be used in tandem with other media types to reach the best targeted audience, adding another level of complexity to your overarching strategy. That said though, the returns can be explosive once you get into a routine and rhythm with content, commentary, and exposure. Dip your toe in the water and you might be surprised by the results. After that, the rest is strategy and scaling. JAY THORNTON is Zweig Group’s director of IT and eCommerce. He can be reached at jthornton@zweiggroup.com. Since the July 1, 2015 launch, there have been 8,100 total recognitions sent and more than 2.6 million points. That is about 10 percent of our company sending kudos to their colleagues on a daily basis. And the back-office data is more meaningful than any we got from the dreaded evaluations. Employees can download a “brag report” to review with their supervisor to show how valuable they are to their team. However you choose to do it, encourage your employees to send fellow employees recognition for a job well done. JIM TULL IS CFO at Crafton Tull. He can be reached at jim.tull@ craftontull.com. “We have learned people are more interested in co-workers’ feelings about their job performance than supervisors or some higher up sitting in another state.” well cared for child. Start small, build the site up with content and functionality based on what your visitors request and where they go the most. Watch your analytics and react ac- cordingly to best nurture engaged, repeat traffic. Enhance web content with related social streams, images, and conversation, and share, share, share. Get your audience involved in discus- sions around your product or service and your relevance goes up, along with your page rank.

Customers don’t show much repeat business to vendors or service providers that aren’t there to assist with the purchase decision or work with them after the fact. Further, a customer who feels involved in the process will become a brand advo- cate, broadcasting on your behalf, and increasing your contex- tual relevance. “Digital marketing, social media, and web content should always be used in tandem with other media types to reach the best targeted audience, adding another level of complexity to your overarching strategy.” ❚ ❚ Keep it current. Finally, update regularly. We used to build websites like houses. Loads of planning, months of prepara- tion and development, then let it sit for a year or two and start all over. Today, the best sites are grown over time, like a

JIM TULL, from page 11

with YEI. Fortunately, they shared my enthusiasm and we rolled out YEI on July 1, 2015. The employees loved it. Here’s how it works: YEI creates a website specific to Crafton Tull. Each employee creates a profile with a photo and information about themselves, sharing as little or as much as they like. Once the profiles are listed, everyone gets 2,500 points each quarter. The purpose is to award points to fellow employees they feel go above and beyond. Each point is worth a penny. As points are given and accumulated, they can be spent in the rewards store. While there are 200 different prizes ranging from Amazon gift cards to lunch with the boss, the first 90 days more than 60 percent of the redemptions were for donations to the Crafton Tull Foundation. Keeping with the charitable sentiment, the recent flooding in Louisiana brought a request from an employee to set up a donation in YEI prize “Buck$ for the Bayou.” Donations reached more than $200 within the first hour of posting. We have learned people are more interested in co-workers’ feelings about their job performance than supervisors or some higher up sitting in another state. People are generous. Posts can be tagged with a Crafton Tull Core

THE ZWEIG LETTER October 24, 2016, ISSUE 1173

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