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TRANSACT IONS ENGEO AND TERRACOSTA JOIN FORCES Two leading geotechnical and environmental engineering firms have come together to form a team that is unrivaled in technical excellence and client service. ENGEO Incorporated and TerraCosta Consulting Group , a long-time San Diego firm, have combined to create California’s most comprehensive geoscience company, with more than 90 registered geotechnical, geologic, and environmental professionals and a total staff of more than 350 professionals located in California, Nevada, Washington, Guam, New Zealand, and Australia. Uri Eliahu, ENGEO’s president and CEO, says “This merger is all about our clients. We’re eager to extend our absolute dedication and exceptional service to TerraCosta’s clients; likewise, TerraCosta’s expertise will bring a new level of service to ENGEO’s clients. Combining the companies will result in a powerhouse of talent equipped to tackle any project. This is a great step in advancing ENGEO’s vision to be the most admired and trusted service firm in the world.” Walt Crampton of TerraCosta, says “We’re excited to join ENGEO’s deep bench of talent and bring their unique, client-focused technical capabilities to our clients. In addition, combining ENGEO’s and TerraCosta’s intimate familiarity with California’s geotechnical, coastal, and seismic setting will significantly enhance the value that we bring to our clients.”
Walt Crampton will continue his decades-long project service from the firm’s San Diego office. Founded in 1971, ENGEO is celebrating 50 years of excellence. The firm has helped companies and public agencies manage their project development risk, drive down construction costs, and improve schedules. ENGEO is an employee-owned firm of approximately 350 geotechnical and civil engineers, geologists, hydrologists, water resources engineers, environmental scientists, construction management personnel, quality- control field representatives, and laboratory testing specialists. ENGEO serves a diverse range of public and private clients through projects in transportation, infrastructure, water resources, geologic hazard abatement, flood control, disaster recovery, energy, industrial development, manufacturing, critical and civic facilities, residential and mixed-use communities, urban infill, Brownfields, and transit-oriented developments. ENGEO has offices in California, Nevada, Washington, Guam, New Zealand, and Australia. TerraCosta is a geotechnical and coastal engineering firm with professional staff that have varied technical backgrounds covering the majority of the earth science disciplines. The staff includes a coastal engineer, an oceanographer, geotechnical engineers, and geologists, with combined geotechnical and
coastal engineering experience of over 200 years. TerraCosta is a California corporation established in 2001 and maintains one office in San Diego, California. TerraCosta specializes in coastal geomorphology (the evolution of coastal landforms) and the evaluation and mitigation of adverse geotechnical conditions impacted by coastal processes, including sea level rise. The firm’s typical marine projects include coastal bluff properties, piers, marinas, waterfront facilities, sea walls, and other coastal improvements. TerraCosta also provides geotechnical engineering services for site development and the design and construction of foundation systems for structures. Characterization of the existing soils and geologic conditions at sites and appropriate geotechnical design parameters are evaluated for use by project design teams. Geotechnical consulting services include evaluation of potential geologic hazards, such as landslides, faults, liquefaction, ground shaking, and others. TerraCosta is considered unique in the field of geotechnical consulting because it offers full service AEC design services, which are provided by in-house staff, and include permit processing, preparation of plans and specifications, and construction period monitoring.
EDUARDO SMITH, from page 11
It was an interesting discussion to say the least. Suffice it to say, I provided another perspective. Operating as a team requires holding one another accountable. That’s the only way a team can function. When team is first, we look for ways to make everyone better, and sometimes that means we have to tell a teammate what they need to hear, so they can address shortcomings and perhaps seek support from us or other team members. It also means we need to be open for others to hold us accountable. “Our core values are the foundation of our culture, and those shouldn’t change, no matter how many people we hire. Those values are a testament of who we are, what we believe, and how we behave toward each other, our clients, and other stakeholders.” And so it goes for upholding our core values, we must all hold each other accountable, from the top executive to the entry-level hire. If we do that, our culture will thrive as we grow. EDUARDO SMITH, P.E. is senior vice president of client success at SCS Engineers. Contact him at esmith@scsengineers.com.
and our core values are transferred to new staff more by observation and participation, than by taking a crash training course. Make no mistake, this means that it is critically important that existing staff have bought into and live the core values we expect others to emulate. Further, our core values (and culture) should be the focal point in our recruiting process. Hiring for cultural fit is much more important than perceived intelligence or experience. Many of us, in a moment of desperation to fill a position, have made the mistake of hiring someone our gut told us wasn’t a good fit. It doesn’t work; we should never settle. If we’ve made that mistake, we should address it as soon as possible. Hanging on to an employee when it’s clear they are not a fit can do significant damage to the culture and morale. One last thing on core values: It has to do with accountability. I had an exchange with an employee some time ago, relatively soon after he started with us. As he was discovering our culture, he told me he thought that because we valued teamwork so much (one of our core values), he couldn’t, and therefore wasn’t, holding people accountable. He thought that being a team player meant being a pushover – just being nice to everyone. That we were to let poor performance and lack of integrity (doing what we say) persist, without calling it out.
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THE ZWEIG LETTER MAY 3, 2021, ISSUE 1390
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