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P R O F I L E
On-site at the North Carolina Center for Technology and Innovation.
Conference call: Sepideh Saidi President and CEO of SEPI Engineering & Construction, Inc. (Hot Firm #74 for 2017), a 350-person firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
“P eople need to feel like their work life is an ex- tension of their personal life,” Saidi says. “It’s a very intentional mesh and mix – personal and professional.” A CONVERSATION WITH SEPIDEH SAIDI. The Zweig Letter: Zweig Group research shows there has been a shift in business development strategies. More and more, technical staff, not marketing staff, are responsible for BD. What’s the BD formula in your firm? Sepideh Saidi: Up until last year, business devel- opment was not a dedicated position. Personally, I enjoy business development, but I know I can’t do it alone. And, not everyone enjoys the dynamics in- volved in business development so you can’t rely on or expect people in more technical positions to en- joy that or be good at it. I knew I needed to hire a
full-time business development person. He’s actu- ally from a different industry, but what impressed me most was his understanding of the process in- volved. It’s also important to bring in outside staff to teach employees the basics of business develop- ment. Not everyone is a natural. TZL: Diversifying the portfolio is never a bad thing. What are the most recent steps you’ve tak- en to broaden your revenue streams? SS: We recently added a surface utility engineer to surveying and also added GIS services. Both com- plement what we already do. TZL: Profit centers. There are A/E leaders who say profit centers create corrosive internal com- petition for firm resources. What’s your opinion on profit centers?
Sepideh Saidi, President & CEO, SEPI Engineering & Construction, Inc.
THE ZWEIG LETTER Jun
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