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ON THE MOVE SPENCER CRONIN JOINS BURNS & MCDONNELL TO LEAD ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES IN MINNESOTA With nearly two decades of environmental, project management and business development experience, Spencer Cronin joins Burns & McDonnell in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Cronin will lead a growing team of multidiscipline environmental professionals, while broadening the firm’s environmental service offerings in the Upper Midwest. “Having served clients across various markets throughout the U.S. and around the world, Spencer has a deep understanding of how to meet the ever-changing environmental needs of our communities,” says Gene Sieve, vice president and general manager of offices in Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for Burns & McDonnell. “He is a dynamic leader with a strong technical background and diverse industry experience. These qualities make him the perfect fit to lead the expansion of our environmental capabilities in the region.” Throughout Cronin’s career, he has supported clients across a wide range of markets including industrial, transportation, government, commercial and retail, food and beverage, oil and gas, and power. He has served as an executive leader for an environmental and infrastructure firm, managing a staff of more than
220 environmental compliance, wastewater, design-build, natural resources, and engineering professionals. “I’m excited to grow our team of high-caliber professionals focused on providing integrated services, including planning, permitting, solid waste and resource recovery, remediation, demolition and decommissioning,” Cronin says. “Our clients are constantly facing environmental regulatory changes and challenges, and the demand for cost-effective, holistic solutions that will help them meet sustainability and environmental goals has never been greater.” Cronin recently served on the board of directors for the Minnesota Environmental Fund and Minnesota Wetland Professionals Association. He currently serves on the board of directors for Northside Economic Opportunity Network and the steering committee for Leadership Twin Cities. Burns &McDonnell is a family of companiesmade up of 7,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune ’s 2019 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.
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MARK ZWEIG, from page 1
1200 North College Ave. Fayetteville, AR 72703 Chad Clinehens | Publisher cclinehens@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | Managing Editor rmassey@zweiggroup.com Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor christinaz@zweiggroup.com Sara Parkman | Senior Editor and Designer sparkman@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent landreassen@zweiggroup.com
General Motors. I have seen firms where only owners or partners can speak with a cli- ent. Some companies take all discretion on certain types of decisions away from anyone who isn’t a vice president. These kinds of structures and role definitions are counter forces to timely decision making. ❚ ❚ Governance. One time, I was asking one of our consultants some questions about a new client Zweig Group took on and the role of their CEO. He told me the firm was “run by a board.” Red flags immediately went up in my mind when I heard this. How can a firm make timely decisions if everything has to be discussed by a group of people? How often does this group meet to make decisions? How well does that work? Not to men- tion what happens when someone in the firm gets a response they don’t like from one member of this board so they go to someone else who gives them a different answer? Confusion abounds. Decision making slows down. ❚ ❚ Culture. There are some firms in this business whose owners pride themselves in never making a quick decision. They think slow decision making is a virtue. They even speak disparagingly about anyone who does make a quick decision, referring to them as “hip shooters.” When this becomes the organization’s culture, you can be sure opportunities will be missed and problems will go unaddressed. ❚ ❚ Specific individuals. Some people just cannot make a decision, and some of these people end up as leaders and managers in AEC firms because they get promoted based on technical competence instead of managerial abilities. When managers always need more information – when they second-guess every recommendation – when they are afraid to disappoint or alienate anyone – they become paralyzed. Critical decisions don’t get made. So, how does your firm stack up on this issue? Are you making decisions as quickly as you should, or is this a problem that you keep facing over and over again? Just like all problems in this business, there’s always something you can do! MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@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 © Copyright 2019, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 2019. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
THE ZWEIG LETTER July 15, 2019, ISSUE 1304
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