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BUSINESS NEWS BURNS & MCDONNELL PREPARES TO DOUBLE IN SIZE IN THE DENVER METRO After growing by more than 400 percent in 10 years, Burns & McDonnell is expanding its presence in Denver for the fifth time. The 100 percent employee-owned global engineering, architecture, construction, environmental, and consulting firm recently completed an office expansion to accommodate plans to double its local workforce within the next five years. “We’re proud to be a part of the Denver community and help strengthen the infrastructure that supports communities across the Rocky Mountain region,” says Mark Lichtwardt, Burns & McDonnell senior vice president and general manager of the firm’s Denver office. “We’re focused on growing locally so we can extend our reach and provide even more sustainable solutions to our clients.” Backed by an international team of more than 6,000, the firm’s Denver office supports the Rocky Mountain region with a wide range of services including design-build construction; water and wastewater; electrical transmission and distribution; power generation; manufacturing and facility solutions; oil and gas and environmental. In 2017, the office successfully managed $167 million in projects for clients across the United States. Burns & McDonnell currently ranks among Engineering News-Record ’s top 10 design firms in the U.S. The firm is also one of Fortune ’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and has been recognized by more than 20 publications as a best place to work across the country, including the Denver Post and Denver Business Journal . Lichtwardt says
the foundation of its award-winning company culture is employee ownership. “When you make employees company owners, you create an incredibly collaborative, transparent, and innovative workplace environment,” says Lichtwardt. “We’ve been 100 percent employee-owned for more than three decades and have seen this first-hand. Our workplace environment helps us attract and retain the most creative, entrepreneurial, and client-focused professionals in the industry – a team ready to solve our clients’ and communities’ toughest challenges.” Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. Burns & McDonnell strive to create amazing success for its clients and amazing careers for its employee-owners. PAUL RUDOLPH WAY AT SARASOTA HIGH SCHOOL NOW OFFICIAL The Sarasota Architectural Foundation in partnership with the School Board of Sarasota County along with generous donors recently completed a restoration project preserving a section of covered walkway at Sarasota High School designed by modernist architect Paul Rudolph. Rudolph was a prominent member of the midcentury regional architecture movement known as the Sarasota School of Architecture. Two plaques commemorating Paul Rudolph Way have been installed on the walkway pillars. The project consisted of renovating approximately 235 feet of the concrete structure, which involved removing pipes,
patching, waterproofing and painting. The walkway connects the Rudolph-designed Building 4 on the high school campus and the former Sarasota High School building, soon to be the home of the Sarasota Museum of Art. “I felt we needed to honor Paul Rudolph’s design,” said SAF board member Michael Kalman. “I hope people will come here to the walkway to read and learn about his work.” Kalman and Sarasota Magazine founder emeritus Dan Denton each donated $15,000 to the $34,000 project budget. SAF covered the rest of the costs through its preservation fund. “Education and art in all its forms – including architecture – will be celebrated and showcased at this center of creativity and learning. We’re pleased that SAF is playing a key role in this ongoing community success story,” Kalman added. This November, SarasotaMOD, a midcentury modern architecture festival, will celebrate the 100th birthday of Sarasota School of Architecture co-founder Paul Rudolph. The weekend will feature once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to tour Rudolph’s residential and public structures, including, but not limited to, the Cocoon House, the Umbrella House and the Revere Quality House. SarasotaMOD will also feature lectures, film screenings, an art exhibition and cocktail receptions. Headlining the event is a talk by writer Paul Goldberger, educator and longtime architectural critic for The New Yorker and The New York Times , who will also conduct his own tour of exclusive Paul Rudolph structures.
MARC FLORIAN, from page 9
it might be for a new hire to hear about them, or how inspiring they might be to someone whose perspective of their organization is otherwise limited to the day-to- day realities of the projects on which they are engaged. As someone whose responsibilities include business development, I also wonder how knowing these types of facts might bolster the effectiveness of elevator speeches, introductions, or social marketing in general. In her book How to be Profitable & Moral , Jaana Woiceshyn writes, “If we want to be happy and profitable, we must reject humility as a deterrent to achieving values and embrace pride.” That said, I encourage each of you reading this article (young and old), to take a few minutes sometime to (re)read some of your firm’s project profiles, peruse the resumes of your senior staff, or review one of the larger, more comprehensive proposals your firm has recently issued. What you will see is your firm’s corporate reflection – your reflection – and I think you’ll agree it’s something of which to be proud. MARC FLORIAN is vice president for Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc., a professional consulting, engineering, and scientific services organization serving clients and markets throughout the U.S. and on four continents. He can be reached at mflorian@ectinc.com.
reflect what all of us have accomplished corporately in our respective organizations. So why are these great collective achievements seemingly relegated to proposals or statements of qualifications and not plastered throughout the meeting rooms and hallways of our organizations? “Humility is a virtue. But a little pride is crucially important in business, too, and reserving these statements of accomplishment exclusively for the benefit of a prospective client is a lost opportunity, to say the least.” Yes, humility is a virtue. But a little pride is crucially important in business, too, and reserving these statements of accomplishment exclusively for the benefit of a prospective client is a lost opportunity, to say the least. As incredible as I find these accomplishments to be at my age and position, I can’t help but think of how motivating
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THE ZWEIG LETTER July 16, 2018, ISSUE 1256
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