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ON THE MOVE SHIVE-HATTERY ANNOUNCES NEW PRESIDENT & EXPANSION INTO NEW MARKETS Shive-Hattery , a leading architecture, engineering and interior design firm, announced the election of Jennifer Bennett as president and expansion into the Madison, Wisconsin and Omaha, Nebraska markets. Bennett has served as executive vice president since March 2020 and has succeeded Jim Lee as president. Lee has served as president since 2012. He was elected Chairman of the Board of the company in 2019 and will continue in that role. “Our steady and sustainable growth is dependent upon leaders with a clear vision,” said Shive-Hattery Chairman, Jim Lee. “With Jennifer Bennett as President, her leadership will support and strengthen the firm’s positive trajectory to benefit both our clients, our employees and our communities.” Bennett joined the design firm in 2003 and has 25 years of experience of client service, talent development and market growth. She has a structural engineering background and previously served as the Vice President and Office Director of Shive-Hattery’s Quad Cities location. “My new role allows me to build upon our One Firm culture which is dedicated to delivering a seamless client experience that leverages the best talent across our organization,” said Shive-Hattery President Jennifer Bennett. “Enhancing this culture means the best design solutions for our clients while our employees experience thriving and rewarding careers.
These elements will ensure our firm’s solid position as we expand into Madison and Omaha.” As president, Bennett is responsible for the overall leadership, strategic planning, culture, vision and direction of current and future operations of Shive-Hattery. The geographic expansion allows Shive-Hattery to strengthen support to its existing clients, foster new client relationships and recruit new talent. Shive-Hattery is a 425-person architecture and engineering firm with design offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and West Des Moines, Iowa; Bloomington, Chicago, and Moline, Illinois; South Bend and Valparaiso, Indiana; Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska; and Madison, Wisconsin. JEANNE COTTER JOINS URBAN ENGINEERS AS QUALITY MANAGER Urban Engineers is excited to welcome Jeanne Cotter, CQE, to the firm as a quality manager. Cotter joins the firm with more than 30 years of experience in quality management development and implementation. “Jeanne is an industry expert who has served as a key member of senior management teams contributing to overall business strategy, business development, and organization operations,” said Urban Senior Vice President and COO for Horizontal Services Mark Kinnee, PE. “We look forward to her insight and leadership as she oversees our Quality Management System.” “I am excited to join Urban, a firm with an excellent reputation for commitment to
quality in all of their services and projects,” said Cotter. “I look forward to bringing my expertise and industry experience to the organization.” In her new role, Cotter will be responsible for implementing and maintaining Urban’s Quality Management System. She will work closely with the management team and interact with employees across all of the firm’s offices and market sectors on process improvement initiatives. Cotter’s additional responsibilities will include managing the quality audit program; leading periodic Quality Management Reviews; reporting to executive management on the performance of the QMS and recommendations for improvement; and establishing and implementing the quality objectives set by the firm. An American Society for Quality (ASQ) Certified Quality Engineer, Cotter earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Point Park University. She is a longtime member of ASQ and previously held leadership positions in the Pittsburgh Chapter. Urban provides planning, design, and construction services for highways, bridges, railroads, buildings, transit, airports, and ports, in addition to environmental consulting. Urban maintains 15 offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, Texas, and California.
MARK ZWEIG, from page 9
he or she could sue the company for providing a negative reference. Not worth the risk! One last indication of character is creditworthiness. Does the person pay their bills or not? I will never forget a time many years ago a client had me check out someone they were considering hiring for a high-level management post. My sources said he had money problems, but my client hired him anyway! Six months later they fired him for embezzlement. I’m not sure about the legalities of credit checks for potential employees. The laws could vary from state to state. In any case you will need the employee’s permission to run a credit check on them. So “hiring for character” is undoubtedly easier to say than it is to do. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try to figure out what someone’s real character is! MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
out he had actually only taken one class at the university we had to renege. Can you imagine the damage someone who was that much of a liar could do in a CFO role? Plenty. “‘Hiring for character’ is undoubtedly easier to say than it is to do. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try to figure out what someone’s real character is!” Then there are references. I would say that for the most part, they are pretty worthless for determining character. And most companies at this point are giving no more info beyond dates of employment and (maybe) whether or not the employee is eligible for rehiring or not. No one will say anything bad because if the employee doesn’t get the job,
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THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1372
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