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college. A sense of eagerness to learn, to be involved, and a true love of the profession are all key indicators of a potentially successful new hire. That’s likely why staff have the ability to move into a principal role early on in their career. Prairie Engineers has several principals in their 30s, because an enthusiasm to take on the role and the ability to collaborate and develop a team is all that’s really needed. “I believe as a woman- owned company it’s been easier to recruit women engineers, surveyors, and scientists and I’m proud of the fact that half of our leadership team are women.” “The diversity of viewpoints that comes from a variety of ages on the leadership team serves to make us stronger and builds community and camaraderie through the whole team,” she says. As a woman-owned firm, Prairie Engineers holds DBE and/or WBE status in multiple states in addition to their Small Business Administration certification as an 8(a), economically-disadvantaged and woman- owned small business. But, she’s been careful not to overuse those designations and to make sure that the firm gets a majority of work from outside sources. Early on, Prairie Engineers worked primarily for local and state governments in central Illinois. However, when the state went more than two years without a budget, the firm had no way to enter into new contracts or to pay their bills for existing contracts; their workload and cashflow suffered tremendously and they were forced to diversify their client base and geographic service area. Although they’re still doing state and some local government work in central Illinois, their largest market now is the federal government and it’s expanded throughout the Midwest and across the nation. “I do think that firms with a DBE or similar designation are sometimes thought of as providing only subcontracted services – not as a firm to prime a project,” Kramer shares. “But, on the flip side, I believe as a woman- owned company it’s been easier to recruit women engineers, surveyors, and scientists and I’m proud of the fact that half of our leadership team are women.”
OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED. When she first founded Prairie Engineers, she had two pre-school age kids, so Prairie Engineers has always been very “family-friendly.” The parents on her team appreciate the flexibility the firm offers to work around kids’ schedules. And, flexibility is something that’s always been a part of the company culture. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prairie Engineers was a distributed company and an early adopter of Microsoft Teams for communications and project management. So, when this global workforce challenge hit, they were able to quickly pivot without much interruption to a fully-remote work environment. They also allowed telecommuting before COVID-19 and have continued that flexibility of work location and work schedule. Some people are fully remote and some work a hybrid schedule. Everyone’s needs are accommodated – whether that’s pursuing specific projects to get them the experience they are looking for or working with variable schedules and last-minute changes. “I’m a macro-manager,” she says. “I believe in making sure that people have the right tools and resources to do their jobs, and then get out of their way and let them do their work. I’m here for guidance and support, but overall, I’m pretty hands-off.” Kramer believes that the hallmarks of Prairie Engineers are flexibility and transparency. As a company, they’re very open with company financials, new initiatives, and future growth plans. They share a larger percentage of company profits with a third of the distribution pro-rated to everyone in the company and the remainder as performance based to all who have gone above and beyond. Their PTO policy is generous as well. Anyone with fewer than 10 years of industry experience receives 160 hours; more than 10 years gets 200 hours, plus additional loyalty hours for years worked. It’s this flexibility and transparency that are meeting their long- term goals. When we can align company goals with individual goals, we can achieve great things.” “It’s important for each person to plan their career and evaluate whether they
HEADQUARTERS: Columbia, IL
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 75
YEAR FOUNDED: 2010
OFFICE LOCATIONS:
Columbia, IL
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Champaign, IL
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Hannibal, MO
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Hazelwood, MO
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Hillsboro, IL
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Keokuk, IA
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Springfield, IL
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Vicksburg, MS
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Washington, IL
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MARKETS:
Federal government
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DOTs
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State and local government/education
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Utilities and industry
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SERVICES:
Water resources
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Transportation
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Structural
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MEP
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Surveying and mapping
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Natural resources ecology
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See AN EMPLOYEE-FIRST APPROACH , page 8
© Copyright 2022. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
EMBER 12, 2022, ISSUE 1468
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