TZL 1382 (web)

ON THE MOVE DEWBERRY ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, OFFICE Dewberry , a privately held professional services firm, has announced the promotion of nearly 50 employees nationwide, including seven in its Raleigh, North Carolina, office. These promotions include: ❚ ❚ Jessica Robbins, PE, and Alex Harwell, PE, CHFM, CHC, have been promoted to associate vice president. Robbins is a program manager with the firm’s design-build practice and has more than 20 years of experience. She works primarily with clients in the telecommunications and energy market segments. Robbins earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from Syracuse University (1999). Harwell works as the southeast healthcare market segment leader for engineering services based out of the Raleigh office. He has more than 20 years of experience and earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology from Old Dominion University (2007). Harwell is a member of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), North Carolina Healthcare Engineers Association

(NCHEA), and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. ❚ ❚ Patrick Wade, PE, and Troy Windom have been promoted to senior associate. Wade is a project manager for the firm’s asset management group and has nearly 15 years of experience. He earned his master’s degree in structural engineering and mechanics (2006) and his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering (2004), both from North Carolina State University. Windom is a manager in the federal and automation systems group and has more than 25 years of experience. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University (1993). ❚ ❚ Beth Steffens, PE, Kristen Puryear, PE, and Joe Estrada, PE, have been promoted to associate. Steffens has more than 20 years of experience and is the site/ civil department manager in the Raleigh office. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from Pennsylvania State University (1999) and is a member of the American Water Works Association, National Society of Professional Engineers, Professional Engineers of North Carolina, and the Raleigh Engineers Club. Puryear is

a project manager for the firm’s healthcare mechanical, electrical, and plumbing group and has 15 years of experience. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech (2005) and is a member of ASHE and NCHEA. Estrada is the firm’s energy market segment leader and has more than 15 years of experience. He earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Florida (2005). Dewberry is a leading, market-facing firm with a proven history of providing professional services to a wide variety of public- and private-sector clients. Recognized for combining unsurpassed commitment to client service with deep subject matter expertise, Dewberry is dedicated to solving clients’ most complex challenges and transforming their communities. Established in 1956, Dewberry is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, with more than 50 locations and more than 2,000 professionals nationwide.

BRIAN RICE, from page 11

In addition to overall strategic planning process value, internal and external communication creates value by strengthening your organization’s employee, client, subcontractor, and vendor relations. 3) Another area to tap for value is found in how your strategic planning session is managed. The smaller the size of an organization, the more likely the entire strategic planning process is managed by a founder or another key leader. Management of strategic planning generally becomes more complex with larger organizations. As firms grow and they recognize the lack of internal planning expertise – or leadership merely does not have the time – planners from outside the organization can be retained for various aspects of the strategic plan process. This could include assistance with preparation, moderating the strategic plan meeting, and implementation of actions to achieve the strategic goals. The value of utilizing an outside planner varies. Often, value is found in moderating planning meetings and developing action items for identified strategic goals. Perhaps the largest value an outside planner can provide is time fully dedicated to your firm’s strategic planning. This dedication of time may be difficult to achieve using in-house resources. However, an inside planner may best recognize the importance of various nuances associated with your business and industry and how those nuances relate to your strategic planning. What other untapped value can your organization recognize during strategic planning? BRIAN RICE, PE is a principal and manager of the Environmental Services Group at Fleis & VandenBrink. He can be reached at brice@ fveng.com.

important to your organization, why not maximize the value during your strategic planning process? 1) One easily overlooked opportunity is the “ask.” That is, ask those in your organization, beyond the core leaders, for their thoughts as part of your strategic planning preparation. This could be asking for input on focused strategic items of importance, such as, “Do you see more opportunity in expanding into service area ‘A’ or service area ‘B’?” This could also be an open-ended question intended to spark new ideas of interest, such as, “Where do you see opportunities for growth?” Depending on your objectives, questions can be directed toward key strategic areas, such as operations, marketing, human resources, information technology, or ownership/ leadership transition. Several web-based platforms are available to help streamline the collection of feedback. These platforms can also allow for anonymous feedback, which may provide more candid comments. However, anonymous feedback limits follow-up questions or clarifications. 2) In addition to tapping value through internal communication, soliciting external comments from your clients, vendors, and subcontractors can also provide valuable insight. While it may be impractical to solicit feedback from all of them, a subset of key relationships should be considered. You may find some of your best strategic planning input comes from outside your organization. “If communication is important to your organization, why not maximize the value during your strategic planning process?”

THE ZWEIG LETTER MARCH 8, 2021, ISSUE 1382

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