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BUSINESS NEWS SIMPSON STRONG-TIE PARTNERS WITH HIGH SCHOOL ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION ACADEMY To promote and support students pursuing careers in the construction trades, Simpson Strong-Tie (Pleasanton, CA) has partnered with Lincoln High School’s Engineering and Construction Academy in Stockton, California. The company has offices, a manufacturing facility and training center, and its Tyrell Gilb Research Lab, 20 minutes away from the Academy. The partnership between the Academy and Simpson Strong-Tie began in 2014. The company’s support includes donations of Simpson Strong- Tie products, building and scrap materials, student field trips, a scholarship program, and internships. The company recently hosted two students at its Pleasanton headquarters for a week-long paid internship and has hired an Academy student for a summer internship at its Stockton location. Lincoln High School Engineering and Construction Academy is a “school within a school” that provides educational opportunities for students interested in pursuing careers in the building trades and construction industry. The curriculum includes coursework, hands-on training, and career paths directly related to jobs in construction. TWO THORNTON TOMASETTI PROJECTS WIN EXCELLENCE IN STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING AWARDS ThorntonTomasetti (Chicago, IL), an international engineering firm with more than 850 employees, has announced that two of its projects, the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, Ohio, and TILT at 360 CHICAGO in Illinois, were honored with Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards by the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois. The Celebrezze building received an Award of Merit and TILT received the Best Project Award – $1 million to $5 million. Now in its 36th year, the SEAOI Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards focuses on innovative designs and contributions that advance the profession. Projects that were significantly completed between January 2012 and 2015 were eligible for submission. MAY CONSTRUCTION STARTS INCREASE 3 PERCENT At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $729.7 billion, new construction starts in May climbed 3 percent, compared with April’s already elevated pace, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The nonbuilding construction sector provided must of the lift, given an exceptionally strong amount reported for the electric power and gas plan category, which reflected a massive liquefied natural gas export terminal project in Texas being entered as a May start. Residential building showed modest improvement, helped by more multifamily housing, while nonresidential building fell sharply from its heightened April volume. During the first five months of 2015, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were reported at $272.5 billion, up 25 percent from the same period a year ago. The current year has included the start of 12 massive projects valued each at $1 billion or greater, compared with five such projects during the corresponding period of 2014. If these projects are excluded, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis would be up a more moderate 10 percent year-to-date. WHO GETS YOUR WORK DONE AND WHERE DO THEY RANK? Zweig Group is working to revise and update its AE Job Descriptions and AE Organizational Charts publications, and we need your help! Please ask your HR directors to send your firm’s job titles and their descriptions and a copy of your organizational chart to abennett@zweiggroup.com. Participants will receive a discount on the final publication. Thank you for your help and support of this initiative.

WSP , from page 11

❚ ❚ Strategic initiatives. The coming together of WSP and Parsons Brinckerhoff has significantly enhanced the Corpora- tion’s portfolio of technical capabilities and provides the op- portunity to drive specific initiatives that will create revenue synergies and help the Corporation move upstream in its cli- ents’ organizations, while delivering more strategic services. As a result, WSP has decided to grow its core value proposi- tions by focusing on the following strategic initiatives: ❚ ❚ Develop more front-end advisory services such as proj- ect/program management, advisory services in build- ings sciences, as well as infrastructure and environment strategic consulting; ❚ ❚ Globally leverage the Corporation’s capabilities in spe- cific subsectors such as high-rise building, rail, aviation, healthcare, large urban centers and sustainability. Rev- enue synergies will be a focal point of this global initia- tive aimed at making the most of the Corporation’s integrated offering; and ❚ ❚ Capitalize on the Corporation’s strategic relationships with its clients to develop and invest in infrastructure projects that require non-traditional funding, while avoiding exposure to construction risk. “Our employees and their expertise are the reason why our firm is where it is today,” Adjahi says. “Our strategies pro- vide clear direction and our systems and structures leverage our strength, but our people are the real guarantors of con- sistent and reliable growth. They are the ones who deliver the projects and work side-by-side with our clients. They are the ones whose individual efforts ultimately generate tech- nical, operational and financial success.”

WSP’s 2015-2018 strategic plan comprises three elements, each of which should contribute to a stronger performance of the corporation going forward. These elements are: ❚ ❚ Acquisitions. WSP will further develop its geographic reach and enhance its market sector footprint through a disciplined and structured M&A strategy which should enable it to cre- ate revenue synergies and increased value creation for clients, shareholders and employees. The Corporation’s regions of choice to continue to expand will be Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Nordics, Australia, Colom- bia, China and selected South Asian countries, as well as the Middle East. It will also evaluate its expansion in Continental Europe, South America and Africa. In all these regions, WSP will focus its efforts on consolidating and developing locally its core market segments in building, transportation, infra- structure and environment. It will also expand its resource- based expertise by following existing clients globally and by leveraging the presence it already has in regions which have mining and oil and gas opportunities. Finally, the industrial and energy sector is one in which WSP wants to enhance its global reputation, through the leveraging of its technical cen- ters of excellence worldwide. ❚ ❚ Organic growth. WSP will strive to operate efficiently and ef- fectively to achieve the highest standards of client service and project delivery and to achieve the highest quality, on-time and on-budget. Through the leveraging of its technical net- works, cross selling activities and revenue synergy strategies, the Corporation will also drive organic growth with its exist- ing clients, while winning new clients and new projects.

THE ZWEIG LETTER JULY 13, 2015, ISSUE 1111

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