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TRANSACT IONS DOWL AND OBEC MERGE DOWL and OBEC Consulting Engineers have entered into a merger agreement. The move comes after more than a year of developing closer ties, and recognizing the advantages for the firms and their clients. DOWL andOBEC share similar employee-owned business models, overlapping geographies, complementary skill sets, and core values that shape their quality- and integrity-driven cultures. Together, they will bring their mix of public and private clients an expanded range of services and a deeper bench of expertise over a broader geographic area. The merger also creates expanded career opportunities for employees. “Both firms bring 50-plus years of experience to their respective markets,” said Stewart Osgood, president of DOWL. “Our clients will continue to work with the project managers they count on, but can expect to see expanded service offerings.” The combined organization totals approximately 450 people in 27 offices across Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and

Wyoming. DOWL provides environmental and land development, water/water resources, transportation, civil engineering, and geo- construction services. OBEC anticipates an active role for their transportation, inspection, survey, and environmental services, and their bridge and marine services will form a transformative new practice area for the combined company. “This is a true success story,” said Larry Fox, President of OBEC. “We started as a bridge engineering firm more than 50 years ago. Since then we’ve evolved to help public agencies solve a wide range of challenges they face. This is an exciting step in bringing our expertise to a broader region.” DOWL and OBEC are multi-disciplined consulting firms owned by senior managers from within the company. The combined firms maintain in-house expertise in environmental and land development; bridge, structural, and marine; water/water resources; transportation; civil engineering; and geo-construction. DOWL and OBEC are nearly 500 employees strong.

MARK ZWEIG, from page 1

of each (though never at the same time). It has been a huge time drain for me. There’s always an ongoing project. Parts need to be located. Something needs fixing. Just this weekend, for example, I blew the transmission in my ‘51 Buick straight-8 powered speedster. Something always needs to be redone. Something always needs to be bought or sold. It’s just too much. And it is nothing but a huge distraction and waste of time. I think when I really look at myself having all this stuff, it has been driven in large part by my personal ego gratification – going all the way back to when I was 12 years old and had more than one bicycle at a time. I don’t need the time drain and hassle of it all 3)I am going to sell my big house on 3.8 acres with a pool and move to a condo. It’s crazy. About two thirds of every month I am there by myself wandering around a 5,000 square-foot house. It costs a small fortune in yard maintenance, pool maintenance, and utilities. Not to mention constant improvements, upkeep, and property taxes (when I pay for my youngest kids to go to private school anyway). I don’t need a 400-plus foot long driveway any more. A nice new condo close to everything will reduce my commute time and free up more of my time and mental capacity. 4)Create some phone down time. This one is especially hard for me because being ultra- responsive has been such a big part of any success I have enjoyed over the years and something everyone – clients, employees, students, family members and friends – have come to expect from me. But it has to end. I have got to stop texting and driving before I hurt someone or myself. And I have got to be better about paying attention to people and listening to them and being in the moment versus constantly being distracted. I have absolutely ruined my own ability to concentrate on anything and completely justi- fied the constant distraction that my phone provides. But I have to stop now to get back to more sanity and a better overall quality of life. I realize many of these changes fly in the face of what I have advocated and how I have lived over the years. But only a fool doesn’t learn from their mistakes. I honestly feel that while these changes may hurt a little and annoy some of those around me, in the long run I will be a better person because of them. A better businessperson, mentor, seller, consultant, teacher, parent, friend, partner – all of those will be enhanced. Maybe I’ll even be able to once again get back to learning and developing myself versus accumulating stuff I don’t need and staying distracted with one unnecessary thing after another. Now THAT would be something! MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

1200 North College Ave. Fayetteville, AR 72703 Mark Zweig | Publisher mzweig@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | Managing Editor rmassey@zweiggroup.com Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor christinaz@zweiggroup.com Sara Parkman | Editor and Designer sparkman@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent landreassen@zweiggroup.com

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Email: info@zweiggroup.com Online: thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigletter Facebook: facebook.com/thezweigletter Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/year) $250 for one-year print subscription; free electronic subscription at thezweigletter.com/subscribe Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YGS Group at 717-399- 1900, ext. 139, or email TheZweigLetter@ TheYGSGroup.com. © Copyright 2018, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.

THE ZWEIG LETTER November 5, 2018, ISSUE 1271

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