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DM: Ownership programs need to re- flect the ownership goals of the firm. If internal ownership transition is de- sired, the program should be designed to enable that outcome. Waiting until an owner decides that she or he now wants to sell might result in the inabil- ity for the internal leaders to afford to buy down the founders. Decide what you want to accomplish, design the plan to do that, and work with your team to gain the thoughts and support for the program. “Hire for leadership depth. Don’t just hire people to fill specific management or technical roles. Hire and engage leadership talent to add depth to the firm.” TZL: Monthly happy hours and dog friendly offices. What do today’s CEOs need to know about today’s workforce? DM: They aren’t bashful about tell- ing you, so get out there and talk with them. Today’s workforce cares about having roles that make an impact – in their work and in the community. Give them that opportunity and watch them soar. Help them see that they can have multiple careers without hav- ing to leave the firm. Sometimes they want change and assume that the only way to do that is to leave. That’s not the case. TZL: What are the most recent steps you’ve taken to broaden your reve- nue streams? DM: Diversification can be good as long as you can develop and/or main- tain your competitive advantage. Oth- erwise you’re just chasing volume and that doesn’t work out in the end. But a diversified portfolio can also include diverse geographies. By building on our strengths in water and environ- mental consulting, we’ve broadened our reach to the West Coast as we con- tinue to build out the East and Mid- west. This gives us access to more mar- kets and also gives us some balance as regional economies ebb and flow. TZL: What is the role of entrepre- neurship in your firm? DM: We have a director of innovation

and new ventures whose job is to look for unique opportunities that can le- verage our strengths. Additionally, it’s a vital role to maintain our entrepre- neurial roots by engaging folks inside the firm on their innovative ideas. We like to say that we have an entrepre- neurial spirit, but it doesn’t just hap- pen – you must nurture it. TZL: Measuring the effectiveness of marketing is difficult to do us- ing hard metrics for ROI. How do you evaluate the success/failure of your firm’s marketing efforts when results could take months, or even years, to materialize? Do you track any metrics to guide your marketing plan? DM: It’s difficult to measure market- ing impacts on a consistent basis with- out spending a lot of money and time conducting post-activity research. So, we decided to create a track – a lead- ing indicator which we call NVI or net visibility index. We set and measure goals for various activities that cre- ate marketplace visibility. We score the value higher for things that have a national versus local impact. We set specific quantifiable NVI goals for the firm that also cascade to the various business units as part of our balanced scorecard. We also place value on the various industry awards and recogni- tion for the different marketing chan- nels like the website. We track social media hits as another indicator of vis- ibility. But to get valuable data on how your brand is viewed in the market you need to hire a consultant and con- duct some analysis. “Today’s workforce cares about having roles that make an impact – in their work and in the community. Give them that opportunity and watch them soar.” TZL: The last few years have been good for the A/E industry. Is there a downturn in the forecast, and if so, when and to what severity? DM: This is so hard to predict with what’s going on in the country. There’s lots of speculation. For example, no one can predict what the impact will See CONFERENCE CALL, page 8

YEAR FOUNDED: 1979 HEADQUARTERS: Portland, ME OFFICES: 28 offices in 13 states NO. OF EMPLOYEES: 1,000 SERVICES: ❚ ❚ Water ❚ ❚ Civil engineering ❚ ❚ Operations and management ❚ ❚ Environment ❚ ❚ Manufacturing ❚ ❚ Design-build MARKETS: ❚ ❚ Government ❚ ❚ Industrial ❚ ❚ Energy and utilities

❚ ❚ Institutional ❚ ❚ Oil and gas ❚ ❚ Mining PURPOSE (ENVIRONMENT):

Woodard & Curran was born in the early days of the Clean Water Act, and the firm’s founders believed strongly that protecting the environment would be a fundamental value of the firm. This principle was written into Woodard & Curran’s mission statement at a time when it had not yet become a mainstream ideal. PURPOSE (COMMUNITY): Woodard & Curran and its people cannot be separated from their communities. And so they give back.

uly 16, 2018, ISSUE 1256

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