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BUSINESS NEWS ACEC OF IOWA HONORS HR GREEN WITH 3 ENGINEERING AWARDS HR Green, Inc. received three engineering awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Iowa. The awards competition recognizes projects of engineering achievement by Iowa consulting engineering firms. Entries are judged on the basis of engineering excellence, the degree to which the client’s needs are met, and the benefits to the public. HR Green, Inc. received Engineering Achievement Awards in the Special Projects Category for the I-35/I-80/IA 141 Interchange IJR & NEPA project in Urbandale and the 5th Street Reconstruction project in Coralville. An Honor Award was received for the Raw Water Improvements project in the city of Spirit Lake in the Water and Wastewater category. Urbandale: I-35/I-80/IA 141 Interchange IJR & NEPA The joined I-35 and I-80 routes at the IA 141 interchange in Urbandale is a critical national Interstate System segment that has been a traffic operations and safety concern dating back to interchange studies in the early 1990s. Traffic backups and high crash rates

often occur. The project involved evaluation of complex Interstate related geometry and traffic operations analysis HRGreen led amulti-discipline team to conduct an Operations Study, Interchange Justification Report, and National Environmental Policy Act documentation. The successful completion of the IJR and NEPA documents and approval processes has the overall project on target for completion in 2020. Coralville: 5th Street Reconstruction The 5th Street Reconstruction Project included partial reconstruction of 5th Street from 2nd to 3rd Avenue and complete reconstruction from 3rd to 4th Avenue. HR Green, Inc.’s team of landscape architects and engineers worked together to produce a design that would improve the transportation, pedestrian, and stormwater issues facing the area. Many sustainable means and methods were incorporated into the design of this project and multi-modal accommodations were made. Spirit Lake: Raw Water Improvements The city of Spirit Lake needed improvements to its raw water system to increase capacity

and to protect the intakes from being clogged by either zebra mussels or sediment. HR Green, Inc. completed a Preliminary Design Report that evaluated the existing raw water system and made recommendations for improvements. During the preliminary design process, HR Green, Inc. recommended a phased approach regarding how the city could upsize the raw water transmission main. This approach removed hydraulic bottlenecks and provided more time for the city to begin the next phase of installing a long transmission main. HR Green is honored to be one of the nation’s longest operating engineering firms. Founded in 1913, HR Green, Inc. has offices in Iowa and throughout the United States. HR Green provides engineering, technical, and management services to clients in the following markets: Transportation, water, governmental services, land development, environmental, and construction. The HR Green family of companies includes HR Green, Inc., HR Green Pacific, HR Green California, and HR Green Development.

SHAUN THERIOT-SMITH, from page 9

research, be so thorough that your client or manager will wonder if you’re the one investing in the deal. Simply put, go whole hog – plus postage – in everything. How do leaders cultivate an organization aligned with disciplined action? It often boils down to who you hire and retain. Unlike the military, companies do not have the luxury of a talent pool that has undergone months of rigorous training before reporting for duty (unless, of course, you recruit veterans). With an intentional and systematic recruitment plan, organizations can create teams with similar values, where synergies create virtuous cycles and each person’s effort feeds the momentum. In this market, it’s difficult to be selective if you’ve got a growing backlog and need to increase your headcount to meet the demand. However, your employees will notice when hires are made for workload’s sake, especially when they don’t check all of the cultural boxes. Spend the same effort recruiting the right people that you do to develop the next big client. Discipline is part and parcel of excellence within an organization. For a company to thrive, it must be pervasive at all levels. The model of this performance begins at the top. When the disciplined employee on the line can look up at their leadership and see ambitious and humble professionals executing a deliberate plan, they can begin to have faith in their company and their roles within it. Leaders, take my commander’s advice: Don’t suck! SHAUN THERIOT-SMITH is a project engineer with BIG RED DOG Engineering working on land development and infrastructure projects in the Greater Houston area. A U.S. Army veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, Shaun first became passionate to build communities at home by helping build those abroad. He is a proud alumnus and former Student Body President of the University of Houston. You can find more at his Building Bayou City blog at theriotsmith.com.

commitment of excellence that great organizations inspire the faith of its members that, no matter what, they will prevail. This was of supreme importance on the battlefield with my commander, but it’s just as relevant in our AEC offices. “It’s in the discipline and commitment of excellence that great organizations inspire the faith of its members that, no matter what, they will prevail. This was of supreme importance on the battlefield with my commander, but it’s just as relevant in our AEC offices.” Jim Collins wrote of organizations: “Good is the enemy of great.” When we entertain the comfort of mediocrity in our work and our business, we’ve accepted that excellence is not fundamental to our mission. For many, this satisfies what they expect from their occupation, and the market will always provide a space for these professionals. But where mediocrity grows, so too does a lack of purpose and growth. The employees of great businesses, at every level, are never satisfied with mediocrity. So how does this translate to a member of a production team, such as myself, in an AEC firm? It means finding a way to provide value in every task that you’re given – complete each one as though your and your company’s reputation is at stake. When you respond to an internal email, do so as swiftly and thoughtfully as you would a major client. If you’re tasked with routine due diligence

THE ZWEIG LETTER July 9, 2018, ISSUE 1255

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