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BUSINESS NEWS WHAT ONCE WAS OLD IS NEW AGAIN: ADTEK ENGINEERS MOVES TO NEW OFFICE IN FREDERICK, MARYLAND ADTEK Engineers, Inc. , founded in 1987, which specializes in offering broad- spectrum civil engineering, structural base building design, and specialty engineering services, has moved to its new offices at 150 South East Street, Suite 201 in the Carroll Creek Linear Park area in the city of Frederick, Maryland. The firm had occupied a smaller office on Monocacy Boulevard since October 2004. Located in the former Monocacy Valley Cannery built in 1904, ADTEK’s new 6,050-square-foot space is on two levels in the building. The firm provided specialty, cold- formed steel design for the two additions on the building’s sides and for elements of the renovation. ADTEK’s structural engineers also designed the structural steel plate floor reinforcement to support the spiral staircase

that the firm wanted in its suite of offices. Jeff Klaiman, PE, structural engineering principal, said: “We were pleased to be involved in the building’s transformation. It is important to us that we could showcase our professional and technical expertise in the renovation and in the office spaces in which we are now working.” The Cannery project is a model of adaptive reuse as a professional services building featuring original architectural elements and natural sunlight. According to Bert Anderson, owner and developer, “The custom office build-out for ADTEK retains exposed brick walls and original heavy timber post and beam structural elements in a historic 19th century industrial building. Of interest in the ADTEK suite are the original heavy timber king post roof trusses in the area to be used by the firm’s structural and civil engineering departments.” The city of Frederick has been home to ADTEK

Engineers for more than 14 years. The firm looks forward to continuing its success as a vibrant local business and will continue to be a strong community patron. ADTEK is proud to maintain its presence at the “Gateway of Frederick.” ADTEK Engineers, Inc. is a consulting firm with more than 50 design professionals firm-wide. ADTEK has offices in Virginia, Maryland, and Michigan, and offers broad- spectrum civil engineering, structural base building design, and specialty engineering services. ADTEK’s design team embraces the application of sustainable design concepts, and is committed to understanding the environmental consequences of their design and implementing conservation oriented technologies and materials. ADTEK has LEED AP professionals on staff, and has completed many LEED certified projects at Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels.

IVAN LARES, from page 11

the owner, you built your firm because you are good at many things, one of which is being an entrepreneur. But there’s something else, something that you are better at than anyone you know. It’s of high-impact to your firm. It’s the reason you are where you are today. As the leader of the firm, my guess is that your strong suit is strategy. As the firm grows, leverage, outsource, and delegate everything that is outside your zone of genius. You will see a positive impact that will enable growth. “Mindset, personal trainers, and even counselling are important to keep a clear mind and a strong mindset. As you begin to nurture the thought of scaling up to seven-figure growth, figure out how you will invest to make that goal a reality.” ❚ ❚ Not investing in growth. Growth costs money. It’s the rea- son I have had the opportunity to work with successful AEC owners in the first place. They invested their money in me so I could help them grow. A growth-driven mindset is necessary to understand that some key investments must be made in order to reach the next level. Growth-driven owners invest in programs and mentors, and they install processes critical for growth. They also invest in agencies or personnel to execute day-to-day marketing and sales activities. Mindset, personal trainers, and even counselling are important to keep a clear mind and a strong mindset. As you begin to nurture the thought of scaling up to seven- figure growth, figure out how you will invest to make that goal a reality. IVAN LARES helps owners at architecture firms scale their firms by implementing The AEC Method and has personally helped his clients sell more than $30 million worth of architectural and design services. He is the founder of Sea Level Media and the creator of The AEC Method. He can be reached at ivanlares@sealevelmedia.com.

driven winners are piercing through with higher prices and better projects. So, to grow your firm you must learn to enhance your service offerings and position them in a way that your targeted “per- fect” client sees the value add. Then raise the price! ❚ ❚ Prioritize lead generation. Let’s picture a steady flow of project opportunities continuously in the pipeline. For suc- cessful firm owners, this is not imaginary. It’s a requirement. And as the firm grows, so does the team. Backlog is one way to calculate how long the cash will last, but it’s not a way to measure growth. Lead generation is! You need to have a pro- cess that consistently generates new leads every month. Without a reliable attraction system in place you never know where your next work is going to come from. Things are un- predictable. Growing the firm is hard. When a strong attrac- tion system is in place, you are relevant to high-value clients from the moment they first come into contact with you until they become a client. Prioritize lead-generation and set a foundation for growth. ❚ ❚ Overcome the hamster-wheel mentality. “Hustle mode” is literally trapping thousands of firm owners and, to be frank, this is not a pattern I’ve seen in winning firm owners. When you spend too many years justifying 60-hour weeks, not having real processes in place, over-delivering on projects, and thinking that “what I do this month will impact me this month,” you end up with the wrong kind of mindset – the hamster-wheel mentality. All successful businesses, including AEC firms, are built on processes. When you prioritize strategy and process, you are cultivating a freedom mentality. This is the type of mindset you will need to grow and prosper. Winning owners focus heavily on learning and installing pro- cesses that will buy them freedom. Then, they focus on hiring and training the best people to do the job. This is the leverage mentality. Get out of the hamster wheel and start using leverage. ❚ ❚ Outsource and delegate. What is your zone of genius? As

THE ZWEIG LETTER December 31, 2018, ISSUE 1277

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