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P R O F I L E
Culture setter: Ernesto Aguilar CEO of Ardurra Group (Tampa, FL), an engineering consulting firm with a focus on the positive.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
A guilar is a seasoned professional engineer with nearly 30 years of experience in all aspects of management and operations of an engineering consulting firm. As CEO, he’s focused on driving strategic growth and acquisitions, managing operations, engaging staff, and ensuring quality project delivery. He has worked at some of the fastest- growing firms in the U.S., and has experience managing national private, public, and private equity portfolio companies in the AEC industry. His experience includes sourcing, valuation, and integration and merging of acquired companies. “You have to balance patience and results,” Aguilar says. “Patience has to be part of the equation. Success doesn’t happen overnight. If you push people too much, they’ll move on. Don’t be impatient.” A CONVERSATION WITH ERNESTO AGUILAR. The Zweig Letter: What are the three to four key
business performance indicators that you watch most carefully? Do you share that information with your staff? Ernesto Aguilar: Utilization, effective multipliers, and backlog. We share this information with managers who are responsible for business units. We want the rest of the staff to focus on the jobs at hand. TZL: How far into the future are you able to reliably predict your workload and cashflow? EA: Nine to 12 months. TZL: What role does your family play in your career? Are work and family separate, or is there overlap? EA: It kind of fits together. Family needs to always override work stuff, but they’re often intertwined. Some days, I may need to work late, but then another day, I may
THE ZWEIG LETTER Novem
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