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JW: BCC is the “umbrella” company that sits above our other companies; it’s been done before. We did not create the model. I think of it as the glue that holds the other companies together. It’s where our mission and our values for all the companies live. This way we are all connected and focused on building better communities, but the individual companies can maintain their own forward-facing identity. TZL: Have you had a particular mentor who has guided you – in school, in your career, or in general? Who were they and how did they help? JW: My dad. All of the BCC employees have heard the story about my dad asking me to go to work with him at the family grocery store in the seventh grade. I worked beside him for five years managing a grocery store. I learned so much about business, the value of hard work, how to treat employees, and giving back to the community. Dad did that every day in some way.
found the EOS system, developed by Gino Wickman, and that is how we run BCC today. A key tenant of the system is the intentionality of working “on the business.” We are still working to become better at EOS, but, because of it, I’d say 70 percent of my time is spent working on the business. “It’s so critical for our employees to know that flexibility is there for them as they move through different phases of life and family.” TZL: Trust is essential. How do you earn the trust of your clients? JW: By being good communicators and by living our values, which include being committed, accountable, resourceful, expanding, and socially responsible. We do what we say we are going to do, and we leave things better than we found them, both things I learned from my dad. TZL: Diversity and inclusion are lacking. What steps are you taking to address the issue? JW: We made this one of our focus areas in our corporate citizenship platform. We are just beginning to learn how we can do better, genuinely better, for all people to feel “net better off” and welcome when they work for BCC. There were some low hanging fruit, at least for us, like recruiting from more diverse colleges or implementing our flexible work policies that enable our employees to be present for their families while still having a fulfilling career. We also try to go into the lower schools whenever we can and talk to young kids about the opportunities in the AEC fields. We share information and try to get them thinking about things they might not ever have considered before. We’ve also established an internal employee-led committee to have conversations around DEI and to help us create additional opportunities to improve DEI for BCC. This will be one of those issues we will be working on for a long time, but it’s so worth it. Increasing diversity brings different backgrounds and life experiences to the table and with that comes ideas and innovation. TZL: What benefits does your firm offer that your people get most excited about? JW: Our new unlimited PTO policy is pretty popular and we also offer a great deal See VISIONARY, page 8
HEADQUARTERS: Athens, GA
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 140+
Year founded: 1999
OFFICE LOCATIONS:
Athens, GA
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TZL: What’s your key strategy for engineering external partnerships?
Atlanta, GA
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Augusta, GA
JW: Communication is so important in any partnership. Being open and honest about expectations and being accountable for your role in the partnership is key. I also think that talking about our mission and values attracts like-minded companies, and when you have similar thoughts around the way business should be done, the partnerships naturally work better. TZL: What are some of the key things you look for when approaching an external partner? JW: We ask ourselves: Do our values align? Are they technically competent? Are they good communicators? Do they understand the mission and add value to the client? “Communication is so important in any partnership. Being open and honest about expectations and TZL: How much time do you spend working “in the business” rather than “on the business?” JW: That’s a great question and one that I would not have known how to answer three years ago. But around that time is when we being accountable for your role in the partnership is key.”
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Birmingham, AL
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Monroe, GA
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Nashville, TN
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MARKETS: U.S.
SERVICES:
Better Communities Collaborative: Building better communities W&A: Engineering, surveying, landscape architecture ClearCourse: Traffic and transportation engineering GroundHawk: Underground utility locate Geolucix: Scanning and lidar services
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© Copyright 2023. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
NUARY 9, 2023, ISSUE 1471
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