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BUSINESS NEWS TERRACON ANNOUNCES HEALTHCARE SECTOR MARKET LAUNCH Terracon announced the formal launch of its healthcare sector. Decades of experience in healthcare facilities has led Terracon to organize its services around the needs of thousands of healthcare clients nationwide. “Healthcare is a local business. Terracon is rooted in the communities where we live and work, but we also have a national footprint that positions us to assist our clients wherever and whenever they need us,” said Laura Reinbold, P.E., Terracon national director of healthcare. “Our clients serve the most vulnerable populations, and they can rely on us to be an experienced, nimble partner.” In 2017, Terracon completed more than 3,000 healthcare projects, generating $23 million in

revenue. Projects included improvements and compliance for existing facilities, as well as consulting for new facilities. With its network of offices, accredited laboratories, and exploration fleets, Terracon acts quickly to meet client needs for each stage of a facility’s life cycle, including: ❚ ❚ Acquisition and development – environmental site assessments, natural and cultural resources, site investigation, property condition assessments, and report of expected geotechnical conditions ❚ ❚ New construction and dependable structures – geotechnical consulting, special inspections and investigations, construction consulting, structural and materials assessments, concrete/soils, steel/masonry, and foundation observation ❚ ❚ Optimized building performance – building

enclosure, including commissioning, energy audits, and system diagnostics; and facility condition assessments ❚ ❚ Safe environments – Asbestos and other hazardous material assessment, industrial hygiene, regulatory compliance, and remediation ❚ ❚ Portfolio management – single point of contact for challenges across networks of buildings; and a multi-facility approach to asset management, facilities consulting, operations and maintenance, and compliance monitoring Terracon is an employee-owned engineering consulting firm with more than 4,000 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical, and materials services from more than 140 offices with services available in all 50 states.

TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the big- gest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? KH: I think it was Bill Gates that said, “Success is a lousy teacher.” Apply a lessons learned mentality throughout the company. It’s okay to tell people they made a mistake and then share the information. Don’t hide mistakes and don’t be slow to respond. Be ready to make uncomfortable deci- sions. TZL: While M&A is always an option, there’s something to be said about organic growth. What are your thoughts on why and how to grow a firm? KH: We’ve primarily been an organic growth firm. We’ve grown a great deal over the last three to four years, but are now in a limited growth mode because of not being able to find and hire new staff. We’re using this time to refine leadership, clean up our client base, and focus on better on- boarding. It’s good to have a little breather to grow inter- nally in our systems processes, so we’ll be ready for action when the time comes. TZL: What’s your prediction for 2018? KH: Very optimistic. We have a strong backlog. There’s con- cern about some uncertainties such as trade wars and inter- est rates, so we have our antennae up. You have to. “I find that you need to give people the information that will be helpful in their roles. They don’t need to have everything all the time. During the recession, people wanted to know everything. We gave it to them straight. It was ugly.”

CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

KH: You have to set up your PMs for success. Give them a moderate workload and run interference for them when you need to. Give them the resources they need and moni- tor their number of projects and clients. It’s easier to man- age multiple projects with one client versus multiple proj- ects with multiple clients. Everyone above the PM needs to make sure they’re paying attention and listening to what’s happening with the PMs.

TZL: What is the role of entrepreneurship in your firm?

KH: We’re constantly working to win new projects. For each of our market leaders, it’s like running their own business. These people need to have fire, understand market dynam- ics and figure out how to beat the competition. We always want people who are looking to innovate. “We’re constantly working to win new projects. For each of our market leaders, it’s like running their own business. These people need to have fire, understand market dynamics and figure out how to beat the competition.” TZL: In the next couple of years, what A/E segments will heat up, and which ones will cool down? KH: I think the private sector will remain strong. Public in- frastructure may cool down – but it’s more of a state-by- state thing. For example, infrastructure in Texas will be hot, but in Kansas it will be cool.

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THE ZWEIG LETTER May 28, 2018, ISSUE 1250

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