TZL 1291

ON THE MOVE STV BRINGS ABOARD NEW NATIONAL BRIDGE PRACTICE LEADER John Brestin, P.E., S.E., a veteran engineer and practice leader who has spearheaded the design of significant bridge initiatives throughout the United States, has joined STV as vice president and head of the firm’s bridge practice. He will be based in STV’s Seattle office. Brestin brings 25 years of innovative bridge design expertise to the firm. Prior to joining STV, he was a vice president and North American bridge practice leader at a major international design firm that specializes in long-span and complex bridges. John Brestin, P.E., S.E., a veteran engineer and practice leader who has spearheaded the design of significant bridge initiatives throughout the United States, has joined STV as vice president and head of the firm’s bridge practice. He will be based in STV’s Seattle office. “John is a proven leader with a long- standing history of the successful execution of many challenging projects,” said Martin Boyle, executive vice president of STV’s

transportation and infrastructure division. “He will augment STV’s longstanding reputation in bridgedesignandallowustocontinuetoexpand our reach in terms of geography and clients served.” Brestin has been responsible for a number of notable assignments throughout the country. He served as the design manager and engineer of record for the Abraham Lincoln cable-stayed bridge in Louisville, Kentucky, which was a new Ohio River Bridge Downtown Crossing; and the Basket Handle Network Tied Arch in Wellsburg, West Virginia, an 830- foot bridge that spans the navigation channel of the Ohio River. Brestin was also the project manager and lead structural engineer for the erection of the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana, a widening project that involved the addition of eight truss panels to the four-span, cantilevered truss unit over the Mississippi River. He received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, in addition to a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and went on to earn his master’s

degree in civil engineering from Purdue University. A registered structural engineer in Arizona, Illinois and Nebraska, Brestin is a registered professional engineer in 16 states including Florida, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington, and New York. Brestin is a standingmember of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineers and the Design-Build Institute of America. He is also a volunteer for Bridges to Prosperity, a nonprofit that works with local governments to make rural areas more accessible via the design and construction of pedestrian bridges. Founded more than 100 years ago, STV is a leader in providing engineering, architectural, planning, environmental, and construction management services for transportation systems, infrastructure, buildings, energy, and other facilities. STV is ranked No. 37 in Engineering News- Record ’s Top 500 Design Firms survey and is rankded No. 12 in its bridges category. STV is 100 percent employee owned.

WILL SWEARINGEN, from page 9

From internal and external project communication to who spilled the mustard in the fridge and didn’t clean it up, look for truth and accountability. Simple situations handled improperly can hamper real negotiations years down the road. “Effective communication in an organization starts at the top, and those at the top owe it to themselves to be truthful about every aspect of their business, and to everyone on their team.” The process of transition is highly refined and meticulously maintained in some organizations. In others, it’s an afterthought. In either scenario, it’s still up to management to figure out how to effectively communicate what’s going on inside the firm. Communication, or lack thereof, is among the most important and most cited issues facing AEC firms today. Staff continually gripe that that they don’t know what’s going on and don’t understand leadership’s direction. If you believe in Reaganomics or fluid mechanics you are familiar with the concept that “you know what” flows downhill and that aggregate wealth, water, or even information, does the same thing. Effective communication in an organization starts at the top, and those at the top owe it to themselves to be truthful about every aspect of their business, and to everyone on their team. WILL SWEARINGEN is Zweig Group’s director of ownership transition. He can be reached at wswearingen@zweiggroup.com.

yourself sailing off into the sunset. Even if you are thinking that far out, it does not mean you should promise a portion of the company to a key hire, or subject staff to half-baked ideas about how it “might happen” when it finally does happen. Make sure you yourself are viewed as a trustworthy person. When an owner (or anyone for that matter) develops a history of questionable statements, distrust can be an issue lurking beneath the surface and can be problematic when it comes time to bring others to the table. The difficult thing for owners is that they have a great responsibility to take care of their people, while at the same time maximizing, or at least optimizing, their returns. Being fair in compensation across your firm is primary in keeping staff happy. So, in that endeavor, owners must balance their own returns – which may be used to pay back the obligation of ownership – with investment in their staff. To that end, while managing the firm – incentive comp, business development, strategic initiatives, and personnel matters, among many others – owners disseminate, and withhold, sensitive information. This is reasonable. Maintaining a motivated workforce depends on a leader’s ability to do this effectively. But when normal discussions and simple conversations devolve into questions about one’s integrity, it can be damaging – not only for an ownership transition but for morale across the organization. Continually evaluate your people, and yourself, on the barometer of truth and make sure the organization’s moral compass is correct.

THE ZWEIG LETTER April 8, 2019, ISSUE 1291

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