APD Newsletter #32

12.2024

Newsletter

Officers

President's Message

Issue #32

Daniel Sargent, AIA, NCARB ..........................x236 Michael Hochadel, NCARB ............................x650

Principals Chris Kambar, PE ..........................................x230 Todd Markevicz, PE ......................................x220 John Wallington, AIA ....................................x224

As we approach 2025, I’d like everyone to take a moment to reflect on all that we’ve achieved together over the last year. Your dedication and hard work continue to define who we are as a company, shape the exceptional projects we deliver, and reinforce our relationships with our clients.

Brent Powell, PE ...........................................x207 Adam Noga, NCARB, LEED Green .................x670 Amanda Speranza, RA ..................................x219 Brian Grinnell, NCARB ..................................x949

Associate Principals Steven Flint, PE ............................................x235 Robert Zupack, PE ........................................x403 Kenneth Rea, PE ...........................................x649 Samantha Garner, RA....................................x732

Business Support Services CFO ............................. Troy Lafler................x208 Accounting .................. Ben Thomas ............x144 Widya McQuaid.......x229 Gina Lincoln ............x247 IT Team........................ Tory Carissimo ........x241 Lance Eddy .............x205 Andrew Fabrizi .......x166 Marketing Team .......... Jennifer Lathrop .....x284 Erin Noger...............x757 Human Resources ....... Sarah Sarkar ............x188 Nate Shipley............x981 Licensing Coordinator & Office

Over the past year, we celebrated some remarkable milestones. These include taking on an insane amount of projects with current clients, onboarding new clients and team members, expanding our physical office, and making investments in our employees and processes to continue refining our dedication to quality. These accomplishments reflect our commitment to our staff, our clients, and our growth.

As we look forward to 2025, I encourage each of you to think about your personal and professional goals. How can we support you in achieving them? What skills would you like to develop? Our commitment to quality doesn’t just apply to our projects—it also applies to how we invest in our people. Let’s make the coming year one of growth and opportunity, both as a company and as individuals.

Thank you again for your ongoing efforts. Let’s keep building on this momentum in 2025!

Administrator............... Candy Falk ..............x259

Offices 615 Fishers Run, Victor, NY 14564 585.742.2222 7615 Omnitech PI, Victor, NY 14564

Company Events Calendar Friday, December 13th - Holiday Party Tuesday, December 24th - Christmas Eve Half-Day Wednesday, December 25th - Christmas Day Full Day

Sincerely, Dan Sargent

APD Academy Schedule

lcome to e W academy

Change Order Mitigation December 5th, 2024

Instructor - Dan Sargent and Michael Hochadel

Heat Load Equipment Calculations December 12th, 2024

Instructors - Joel Skogen

Specifications

December 19th, 2024

Instructor - AJ Bellavia

Multi-Family Residential January 9, 2025

Instructors - Donald Holtz

Our vision is to develop well-rounded individuals who gain a deep understanding of the business through a clear career path, enabling them to grow and succeed at APD. We aim to foster a collaborative environment where employees achieve greater accomplishments through education and compassion.

On the Horizon: Events Worth the Hype November 25th - December 6th: Holiday Toy Drive APD is partnering with The Pirate Toy Fund to collect toys for children in need this holiday season.

Donations of new, unwrapped toys for children from infant through age 14 are welcome!

Donation boxes will be placed at the entrances to each of our offices.

December 13th: Holiday Party Friday, December 13 5:00 - 10:30 pm Victor, NY Semi-Formal

December 18th: Ugly Sweaters, Gingerbread Houses, and Hot Chocolate Truck Come join us on Wednesday, December 18th at noon to make gingerbread houses, drink some hot chocolate, and wear your ugly sweaters!

On the Horizon: Events Worth the Hype EASON SUI S D TE P A

18 Tickets per Game

Recently Completed Projects ALDI - Miami (MOTA), FL Project Manager: John L

Brusters - Greece, NY Project Manager: Chris K

Dunkin’ - Johnson City, NY Project Manager: Todd M

Rewind: Let’s Recap

Recognition Row ALICIA COLOGGI We are excited to watch Alicia step into her new role as Permitting manager! After 10 years at APD, we are grateful for her dedication and commitment. Congratulations!

JOHN LYNCH Please congratulate John on his promotion to Senior Project Lead. John has been with APD for over eight years and continues to be a valuable part of the APD Team!

NATE SHIPLEY Congratulations to Nate on his promotion to Human Resources Generalist! In his new position Nate will continue to provide support to all employees.

JOHN SCHELL Congratulations to John on obtaining his Florida and Georgia license!

Recognition Row Chris HANSEN Kambar SKYE “Skye Hansen is amazing! She has been doing our Utility Drawings for us since I have been with Habitat, going on 3 years and I would use her for all future projects. Very professional and gets our questions answered in a timely manner.”

- Habitat for Humanity

Chris Kambar ZAXBY’S TEAM Shoutout to the Zaxby’s Team! We want to take a moment to recognize the incredible work of Steve, John, Noah, and the entire Zaxby’s team.

Thanks to their dedication and exceptional service, we’re seeing a growing number of projects coming our way from franchisees. Their hard work and commitment to excellence continue to make a lasting impact—keep up the great work!

A Year of Growth 2024 was a huge year of growth for APD! Between opening a second office, to nearly doubling our employee count. Oh and we’ve also been busy adding TWO new areas of expertise! We are look forward to all of the new opportunities ahead in our next chapter of growth.

We’ve Upgraded What’s new with our services?

Permitting has transitioned from an expertise to a dedicated service, and Sharenology has been renamed as Construction Management Software!

Architecture

Permitting

Civil Engineering

Services

MEP Engineering

Construction Management Software

Structural Engineering

New name, who dis?

This year, we’re excited to introduce not one but TWO new areas of expertise! Multi-Family Residential has been made public, and LiDAR 3D Scanning is set to launch publicly at the start of 2025!

Prototype Design

Multifamily Residential

Multi-Site Rollout

LiDAR 3D Scanning

Expertise

Fire Escape Inspections

3D Rendering

Unlocking the Next Level MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL We’re excited to share our new Multi-Family Residential expertise, led by Senior Architect Don Holtz. Don brings over 30 years of architectural experience, and joins APD with an impressive track record of residential and commercial development across California and New York. Before coming to APD, Don owned Holtz Architecture in Los Angeles, where he led a diverse array of projects.

Donald Holtz Senior Architect

Don's experience in navigating complex entitlement processes, permitting, and project advocacy will be key in advancing APD’s footprint in residential design. As the head of our MultiFamily and Residential Division, he will drive strategic project management and innovative design solutions for our clients nationwide.

Check out Don’s latest article California Dreaming.

LIDAR 3D SCANNING Riley Beechler Project Designer We specialize in cutting-edge LiDAR 3D scanning technology, delivering precise and detailed spatial data for a wide range of industries. Our LiDAR solutions provide the insights you need to make informed decisions. With a commitment to innovation and quality, we help clients unlock the full potential of 3D scanning.

Welcoming New Clients and Opportunities Todd and his team have gained three new JIB Franchisee partnerships! Combined with Corporate, this could potentially lead to 20 new sites over the next five years!

N E W C LIE N T

N E W C LIE N T

A big shoutout to Amanda for securing signed proposals with Casey’s! We’re excited to share that there are already a few projects in in the works.

Dan has a signed MSA with Panda Express! While it’s not ready for public announcement just yet, we’re thrilled to share that there are two projects brewing. Stay tuned for more details!

A new project for Valvoline has begun construction in Greece, NY! Todd’s team continues to bring the heat!

Employees on the Move New Employees

Theresa Fuller Senior Structural Designer

Justin Hildreth Senior Architect

Ben Thomas Finance Manager

Don Holtz Senior Architect

Riley Beechler Senior Project Designer

Joel Skogen Senior Mechanical Engineer

Tamzid Mafiq Electrical Technician Intern

CAD Whisperer: Secrets to Success

By Tim Warren Streamlining Workflows: Tools to Enhance AutoCAD Efficiency At APD, we are always looking for ways to reduce workload and improve efficiency, particularly when it comes to AutoCAD. Through innovative thinking and collaboration, we’ve developed tools that automate repetitive tasks, ensure consistency, and free up our team’s time for higher-value design work.

Key Highlights:

1. Revision Cloud Freezing and Batch Publishing Tool 2. This Excel VBA Tool streamlines the process of managing revision clouds and publishing drawing sets: Layer Freezing Automation: Automatically identifies active revision clouds in layout spaces and freezes their associated layers, ensuring clean and clear drawings for final publication.

Batch Processing Efficiency: Processes an entire set of drawings in one operation, eliminating the need for manual file-by-file updates.

Seamless Publishing: Publishes all drawings into a designated folder with clear and consistent naming conventions, ready for client delivery.

Results: Significant time savings, increased consistency, and reduced errors.

1. Custom PDF Set Publishing Tool for Aldi Prototypes 2. Another powerful tool we’ve implemented focuses on creating custom PDF sets for Aldi Prototype projects and, in the future, all prototypes that APD manages.

Tailored PDF Sets: Designers can select specific options and details for retrofits or remodels and generate a custom reference set tailored to their project needs.

Efficiency in Client Deliverables: This tool drastically reduces production time for those creating PDF sets for client releases while ensuring the inclusion of the correct details and options.

Impact: Faster production of PDF sets, improved accuracy, and a more streamlined process for preparing client-ready deliverables.

The Results: Time Savings: Tasks that previously took hours can now be completed in minutes.

Customization: Tailored PDF sets and drawing processes meet the unique needs of each project.

Consistency and Quality: Automated tools ensure every deliverable meets high standards with minimal risk of error.

These tools represent our commitment to empowering the design team with efficient solutions that simplify workflows and elevate productivity.

If you have ideas for additional tools or improvements, we encourage you to share your thoughts.

Together, we can continue to innovate and improve our processes!

Stay tuned for more updates on how we’re transforming AutoCAD workflows.

Marketing Madness: Jenn & Erin Unleashed Team Updates

A big thank you to everyone who attended our recent APD Academy class!

If you couldn’t make it, don’t worry—you can catch the recording to stay updated on all things Marketing.

Important Announcement: This will be the final edition of our newsletter. Moving forward, all marketing updates and news will be shared in our new Teams channel! You can find it under APD Engineering & Architecture > Marketing.

Be sure to keep an eye on the channel for the latest updates and news!

During 2024 our Linkedin Page had over 100K impressions...

So let’s take a look at a few of our best performing posts:

Project Photography

Culture Halloween Post: 52 Reactions 5 Comments 6 Reposts 1,446 Impressions

Business Development Our Growth Announcement: 42 Reactions 4 Comments 2 Reposts 2,799 Impressions

Chiefland Zaxby’s: 52 Reactions 1 Comment 1 Repost 1,441 Impressions

Projects Heritage Christian Services: 38 Reactions 1 Comment 1,318 Impressions

QC Chronicles with AJ Bellavia

Operations Team Update The Operations Team would like to share some of the exciting things we have been working on and update you about key initiatives going forward.

Below are some highlights of recent accomplishments, and we encourage everyone to start using them if they haven’t already.

Project Quality Auditing Process Created and Continue Developing the Retrofit (SEG) Template Please help us expand and improve it!

Created and deployed the APD AutoCAD Tool Palettes LiDAR acquisition and implementation Mirror Prototype – significant headway has been made to automate mirroring drawings for ALDI. The following are initiatives we are currently working on or will be taking up in the near future.

Facilitate RFI responses – use previous RFI’s and responses to aid us in responding to new RFI’s Engage with staff and seek areas where training, standards improvement, or automation would be more beneficial Automate the tedious Centralized project management software Hot Desking Network Upgrades Ai – Explore ways Ai can help our business Develop and expand Standards Libraries Improve CAD blocks – build in limits to ensure appropriate usage Improve Layer Manger Standards The Operations Team represents Us All! If you are interested in or have a ‘special skill’ and would like to be a part of any of the initiatives listed above, please reach out to Brent Powell

Mentoring I want to focus this month’s column on the topic of Mentoring.

Mentoring is a term tossed around a lot, but it is challenging to nail down the “best” or most effective way to achieve a successful mentoring approach within an organization. There are many opinions on the topic, none of which are right or wrong 100% of the time.

For some, a formal approach to mentoring is beneficial, and for others, it is not. The same goes for the informal approach. For many, something in between works best.

APD does not currently have a specific mentoring program, but it promotes, supports, and encourages a culture of Mentorship in whatever form it takes for each individual. If you want a formal mentor/mentee relationship with regular meetings, identify an individual you would like to mentor you and ask them. If you want to take a less formal approach, follow the lead of another and learn as much as you can from them. You can ask them to be your mentor or not. t is important for everyone at every experience level to approach their daily activities, knowing people are looking to each other to learn from and we all have something to offer. We traditionally think of a mentor as someone with more experience mentoring someone with less, but that is not always true. Anyone can be a mentor! There are situations where someone with more experience may rely on a less experienced teammate to mentor them in new technology or ways of doing things.

In my own personal experience, a less formal approach worked for me. In fact, I have had several different mentors throughout my career who helped me develop Professionally, Technically, and even Personally. Thinking back, they probably didn’t know they were my mentor(s) at the time (we didn’t put a label on it), but they do now, and I am grateful to them. I found professionals I respected and learned as much as I could from them. That worked for me, but for others, a more formal mentorship would have worked best.

Regardless of which approach to mentorship works best for you, as professionals, it is important to have a mentor(s) to help you progress through your career. The best people to learn from are those we recognize as doing what we want to do well. That’s a good place to start.

If you would like more information about mentoring or would like help in connecting with a mentor or mentee, please reach out to Sarah Sarkar, Nathan Shipley or AJ Bellavia.

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