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Paul
P R O F I L E
Conference call: Paul Galdes President of Fleis & VandenBrink Engineering, Inc. (Hot Firm #30 for 2017), a 200-person civil engineering firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent “M arketing is very important,” Galdes says. “We actually increased marketing during the recession and when the recession was over, business skyrocketed.” A CONVERSATION WITH PAUL GALDES. The Zweig Letter: The A/E market is great right now. What are you doing to cushion your firm in the event of a downturn? Paul Galdes: We’ve been blessed. The last three to four years have been tremendous for us as a firm. But, we have to remember to be realistic. Here are some things we are doing to prepare for a down- turn: ❚ ❚ Pay down any debt.
❚ ❚ Put offices in places where we know clients will need us. ❚ ❚ Invest in technology – upgrades to IT, phones, and security. ❚ ❚ Continue to be aggressive with our marketing. “The last three to four years have been tremendous for us as a firm. But, we have to remember to be realistic.” TZL: What’s the greatest challenge presented by growth? PG: Maintaining culture and communication be- tween staff. We have a goal to improve these things. We have a culture committee that works with mar- keting. They just completed a video that illustrates
Paul Galdes, President, Fleis & VandenBrink Engineering, Inc.
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