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ON THE MOVE HARLEY ELLIS DEVEREAUX NAMES FIVE NEW PRINCIPALS National architecture and engineeringfirm HarleyEllisDevereaux started the year with promotion announcements, including the naming of five new principals within the firm: Gregory Blackburn, Michael Bulander, Jennette La Quire, Jerome Odell, and Christopher Vogelheim. These promotions, as well as elevations of several employees to associate principal and associate, come on the heels of a strong year for the firm. Harley Ellis Devereaux is currently 365 people strong, which includes 44 principals in the firm’s six offices. “The elevation of these five principals is a reflection of the strength and reach of our national team,” says Harley Ellis Devereaux’s CEO Peter Devereaux, FAIA. “We are proud of the talented individuals that fuel this firm and the powerful relationships they build with our clients to produce innovative work.” Devereaux notes that the firm has seen growth and development in a range of sectors this year. “It’s an exciting time in many sectors,” he says. “We are seeing creative design thinking transfer from one area to another, and the cross-pollination makes for exciting public and private projects. As an integrated, multi- disciplinary practice, we are particularly well positioned to optimize the transfer of design ideas from realm to realm.” The new principals:
❚ ❚ Gregory Blackburn leads Harley Ellis Devereaux’s studios for higher education and science and technology in Northern California. Blackburn has led the planning and design of projects on 27 campuses, including six campuses of the University of California. Artfully fusing a building’s technical demands with the generous accommodation of human interaction, he has created new models for enhanced teaching and research space. ❚ ❚ Michael Bulander is a design leader in the Los Angeles office who has brought his experience to a wide array of project types, including LEED and zero net energy facilities. His work develops design solutions that continuously exceed the client’s needs, while focusing on strong sustainable design approaches. He speaks and writes about holistic, high-performance design and is an active member of the AIA Los Angeles’s Committee on the Environment. ❚ ❚ Jennette La Quire leads pre-K-12 and community education facility work in the San Diego office; she builds strong client relationships that produce results firmly rooted in client’s culture and needs. Through her management experience, she brings a depth of knowledge and understanding of the state agencies governing school construction. La Quire is also an adjunct professor at San Diego State University’s interior architecture program. ❚ ❚ Jerome “Otis” Odell is a leader at the firm’s Los Angeles office, with more than 30 years of experience on market-rate, high-rise,
affordable, and senior housing, as well as hospitality projects. His expertise includes facilitation of community meetings and neighborhood forums to achieve consensus among stakeholder groups. His experience in housing gives him a unique perspective on the housing challenges facing California and the nation. ❚ ❚ Christopher Vogelheim is a studio leader in the Detroit office, where leads collaborations with clients in the science, technology, higher education, and workplace sectors. His commitment to the integrity of those collaborations and to creative thinking is evident in consistently superior project results at all scales and degrees of complexity. He embraces evolving conditions and changing contexts and challenges convention to optimize every project. Founded in 1908, Harley Ellis Devereaux seeks creative solutions that have a positive impact for its clients, the community, and the world. Harley Ellis Devereaux has earned a reputation for excellence in all facets of architecture, including design, consulting, engineering and planning services. The firm serves clients in a broad range of market sectors including healthcare, workplace, housing, mixed-use, science and technology, higher education, and pre K-12 and community education from six U.S. offices.
JAVIER SUAREZ, from page 3
❚ ❚ Some work for the strategic plan instead of develop- ing a plan that guides them to win work. So, you ended up with a beautiful document with nice grammar, no typos, detailed key performance indicators, pristine growth percent- ages – congratulations? The exercise should not boil down to completing “a document” and instead it should “document” a sincere look at the firm’s current reality and how it informs an effective path forward to achieve success. “The best prescription in our quest to avoid going too deep into the wrong forest is to accept what we see in the mirror and trust that we can use the right tools to effect positive change.” Author James Altucher wrote, “Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure.” The best prescription in our quest to avoid going too deep into the wrong forest is to accept what we see in the mirror and trust that we can use the right tools to effect positive change. Now, go forth and rock. And be yourself! JAVIER SUAREZ is the central marketing and sales support manager with Geosyntec Consultants. Contact him at jsuarez@geosyntec.com.
maintaining long, healthy business relationships, referring work will go a long way with both clients and colleagues. ❚ ❚ Personal often trumps comprehensive when talking about capabilities. Our fellow technical gurus are somewhat constrained to narrow comfort zones. Have you ever wit- nessed the painful scenario of a geotechnical engineer trying to explain the firm’s capabilities in vapor intrusion? We all must learn two rules of thumb: 1) Let’s do our homework and truly learn what our firms have to offer. 2) It is perfectly fine to tell a potential client that you will have an expert contact them to discuss their issues in de- tail. Let’s embody being a “consultant” and facilitate the effective pairing of client with practitioner, even when it is not you. ❚ ❚ Most vision and mission statements are fill-in-the-blank exercises. Try this out: Read the statements from four simi- lar firms – go ahead, take a few minutes and do it. How about that, eh? You can copy/paste them into any of the websites, include them in any of the firms’ branded collateral and, for the most part, everything stays intact. Why not avoid the traps of doing things like they have always been done and craft statements that are unique to who you are? Be yourself!
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THE ZWEIG LETTER March 11, 2019, ISSUE 1287
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