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Apex team performing sediment work in Oregon.
Conference call: Dave Fabianski CEO of Apex Companies, LLC (Hot Firm #41 for 2017), a 700-person environmental engineering firm based in Rockville, Maryland.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
“T here is nothing that drives value creation for an organization more than organic growth,” Fabianski says. “Internal growth strengthens the core business, creates new opportunities for em- ployees, facilitates investment in new services and solutions, and organic growth comes without the culture fit challenges and turbulence of acquisi- tions. Organic growth is also difficult.” A CONVERSATION WITH DAVE FABIANSKI. The Zweig Letter: There are A/E leaders who say profit centers create corrosive internal competi- tion for firm resources. What’s your opinion on profit centers? Dave Fabianski: When properly structured, prof- it centers can serve as vital growth engines for the company and if they’re managed properly, the in- ternal competition can be constructive versus
corrosive. That said, success depends on an effec- tive organizational design (including having the right people in the right roles), and clarity in pur- pose, goals, and incentives. There are challenges with profit centers, but done right they can help fa- cilitate organic growth and margin improvement that otherwise may not be realized. TZL: What’s your policy on sharing the firm’s fi- nancials with your staff? Weekly, monthly, quar- terly, annually? And how far down into the org chart is financial information shared? DB: It’s important for staff to know how the busi- ness is performing and what the outlook is for the future. Keep in mind, the distribution of sen- sitive financial information needs to be con- trolled. There are some key performance indica- tors that need to be looked at weekly or bi-weekly to make timely management decisions, while other
Dave Fabians- ki, CEO, Apex Companies, LLC
THE ZWEIG LETTER Ma
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