• Introducing Olsson Studio.
• Engineering Possibilities: Learn how Jody Glennon and Olsson helped a Denver water utility turn two negatives into a positive.
• Check out all the new hires and relocations.
• Take a pictorial tour of Olsson’s new office in Joplin.
One of the goals of Olsson’s 2022 Strategic Plan was to assess our mentoring program. A working group of 11 members was tasked with interviewing employees, analyzing other companies' mentoring programs, and researching mentoring best practices.
This research resulted in several themes and recommendations; one recommendation addressed developing new mentoring initiatives by focusing initial efforts on new Olsson employees and employees who are assuming new roles in the company, developing group and peer-to-peer mentoring initiatives.
In response to these recommendations, the Talent Development team has been creating and testing two new mentoring programs.
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These mentoring programs are the Preparing Emerging Professionals (PEP) Talks group mentoring program and a Team Leader Mentoring program for new team leaders.
PEP Talks is a group mentoring program for new employees entering the workforce for the first time. The program provides a way to learn more about Olsson, discuss topics relevant to starting a career, develop relationships with employees across teams, and provide a place to ask questions. Group meetings are held in an office and are led by two mentors from that office. The program lasts six months and involves lunch meetings that include discussion and a networking event.
This program was initially tested in the Omaha and North Kansas City offices in the last half of 2022 and is now being tested in Lincoln, Overland Park, and Dallas/Fort Worth. The goals are to roll out this program in all offices and develop a remote worker program.
The Talent Development team is also testing a new onboarding program for team leaders, and mentoring is a component. In the Nebraska region, seven new team leaders have been paired with experienced team leaders to provide them with additional support as they make the transition into their new role. For this effort, both parties set up regular meetings to check-in, cover questions, and discuss best practices.
Team leaders in the mentoring program had the following to say:
“This program has been a great step for Olsson and our culture!”
“I enjoyed meeting people, both younger staff and experienced professionals.”
“It was great to hear advice from many perspectives.”
“I really appreciated the open environment where I could ask any question without judgement. The program allowed me to ask questions about being an engineer that I didn’t learn in school.”
“Even in this short time frame, (this program) has opened the door and allowed me to connect with other team leaders on different topics, and made some difficult business conversations much easier.”
“One of the most valuable parts for me has been spending time with other team leaders and running ideas by them. I think we can accomplish that each meeting.”
Throughout the rest of 2023, we will continue to evaluate the need for additional programs. If you have any suggestions on how mentoring could address a need in the organization, please email mentoring@olsson.com.
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By John Salow, Training
Mentoring is a fantastic way to learn new skills, meet people in the firm, and achieve development goals. Here’s how to get involved.
The first step is to talk with your supervisor about your development goals (ideally during a conversation about your Individual Development Plan) and how mentoring can play a role. Your supervisor can also provide feedback about what to focus on and perhaps suggest potential mentors/mentees.
Not sure if you should be a mentor or a mentee? Consider the idea of reverse mentoring, and get involved as a mentee. Reverse mentoring happens when an employee who has an advanced career is mentored by an employee who is still in the early stages of their career. You might be surprised by what you can gain both personally and professionally from the experience!
It is important to discuss the time commitment related to mentoring. There are no specific time requirements dictated by our mentoring program, but it’s recommended that you meet with your mentor/mentee at least monthly.
It’s a good idea to review the resources that are available prior to starting a mentoring relationship. Check out the following on Oasis, the Mentor Match site, and Compass:
Oasis: The Mentoring Resources page provides training on the Mentor Match program and mentoring guides and information about the project manager mentoring program.
Mentor Match site: Mentor Match to request a mentor
Compass: In March, we are featuring these four courses related to mentoring:
• “Mentoring: A Mutually Beneficial Partnership”
• “How to Be an Outstanding Mentee”
• “How Reverse Mentorship Can Help Create Better Leaders”
• “Achieve Mastery: Three Strategies for Deepening the Mentor Relationship”
Interested in being a mentee? Access Mentor Match on Oasis or through the Mentor Match tile in Okta. If it’s your first time participating in Mentor Match, you’ll need to complete a mentee profile. Then, you can search through the list of available mentors to find one who fits your development needs.
Interested in being a mentor? Send an email to mentoring@olsson.com. Then, look for an automated email with instructions for setting up your mentor profile. Once your mentor profile is set up you’ll be available as a mentor in the system.
I hope 2023 proves to be a great year filled with personal and professional growth! Please send an email to mentoring@olsson.com if you have any questions.
Amy Cherko, team leader for the Nebraska Environmental team and DEI Council chair, and Emma Schneider, an assistant engineer on the KC/SPF Water Resources team, formed their mentorship experience through a common theme of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Below they share their experience:
Q: What topics did you discuss?
Emma: Our discussions have all been insightful. We’ve had topics including setting boundaries, Latina heritage, authenticity, burnout, supervising and delegation, vulnerability, and worklife balance. Some of them have been
things I wanted to learn for the future, but some of them were ones that I needed advice on at that time. I was able to have that conversation about identity and being a Latina and getting resources from Amy. I really loved that, that topic has been a lot of fun. Amy: I am Chicana and being able to share my identity and experiences with Emma has been wonderful. I also think being a woman on a technical team, I have been able to relate to Emma and some of her challenges as well.
Q: How were you matched?
Emma: Amy and I already knew each other through the DEI Council and it's also a part of Young Professionals to set up a mentorship. I jumped at the opportunity to have Amy be my mentor.
AMY CHERKO AND EMMA SCHNEIDERQ: What do you feel like you’ve learned from your discussions together?
Emma: Being able to go into our meetings and have a safe place to just talk about stuff that’s been going on in my personal or professional work. I’ve been able to take some of those conversations and bring them to my team. Our conversations have been the foundation for my team to move forward and just become stronger and it’s been really helpful in that aspect.
Amy: Being able to talk through these issues makes me reflect on scenarios or situations and gives me more confidence to show up the way I want to show up at work. Our meetings can serve as a respite for burnout. Just having this time with Emma once a month to connect feels really good to spend time together.
Q: What kind of results have you seen from this mentoring experience?
Emma: Confidence has been a huge thing. We’ve been able to have conversations about challenges I’ve encountered, and what I needed to do. I’ve been able to take that to my team and it’s brought us to a better place so we can continue doing good work. I don’t think those conversations would have happened if I hadn’t talked to Amy.
Amy: It’s given me confidence to move forward and think about how I want to show up as a leader for other people. I learn something more about myself every time we talk.
Q: Why would you recommend other employees join an Olsson mentorship program?
Amy: Taking that time to get clear on a situation or be a resource for others has been really great. There are plenty of people in Mentor Match to help you navigate any situation that you’re curious about. There’s a wide variety of results that you can get through your mentoring relationship.
Emma: I think it’s important to explore mentorships to learn more from people about the path they took to get to where they are.
We celebrated mentorship last year with a series of videos in which our employees share their mentoring journeys. If you missed it, here’s your chance to revisit a few of these stories:
https://olsson.wistia.com/medias/m5z5gf9r9u
https://olsson.wistia.com/medias/iv9ynzpvne
https://olsson.wistia.com/medias/9du5gfl6z6
Mitchael Sieh, mechanical electrical assistant engineer located in Omaha, Nebraska, was paired with mentor Brad Mostek, senior engineer for the same team, located in Lincoln, Nebraska. Clair Crase, client experience senior coordinator located in Overland Park, Kansas, was paired with mentor Lisa Sedivy, director of communications, located in Lincoln, Nebraska. Brooke Hudlemeyer, water/wastewater project engineer located in North Kansas City, was paired with mentor Kelly Petersen, creative leader, located in Omaha, Nebraska.
Earlier this month, we rebranded The Olsson Studio to Olsson Studio. The rebranding efforts included more than just dropping one word from the name. We gave Olsson Studio a new look and feel, one we think will resonate better with our clients and emphasize Olsson Studio’s connection to Olsson. We recently caught up with Len Swartz, Site/Civil practice leader, to talk about the changes to Olsson Studio and how these changes are strengthening our position in the market.
Q: Why did Olsson Studio need a new name and what led to the final decision to just shorten the existing name?
Len: When we first started exploring branding options in January 2021, our goal was to position Olsson Studio as the expert in landscape architecture, planning, and design while also making sure everyone knows Olsson Studio is tied to a full-service engineering firm. This connection to Olsson is what really differentiates Olsson Studio in the market, so we needed a brand that would clearly convey that connection. We worked with an outside marketing agency to explore several different naming conventions and brand identities. But at the end of the day, we just didn’t want to lose our identity and the brand equity we had built in it. We also wanted something that continued to pay homage to Olsson Studio’s 100-year legacy. That’s why we decided to make just a slight adjustment to the name.
Q: What was the biggest “aha!” moment you took away from the process?
Len: We did a lot of legwork before we made any decisions. We talked to employees, our clients, and our leadership teams about Olsson Studio’s name, look, and feel. We also did a ton of research about Olsson Studio’s legacy, and we dug into some other design studios we regularly compete against. During this time, we kept hearing from our clients that the reason they choose to work with Olsson Studio isn’t because of the name. They choose to work with us because of our people, who they think are innovative, creative, and help them solve their most difficult challenges. It’s something we’ve always known, but it was nice to hear validation from the people who hire us.
Q: Are there any other insights about why you decided on the name Olsson Studio?
Len: In the past eight years, our team has built so much equity into our Olsson Studio brand that it proved to be impossible to walk away from it, to be honest. We’re extremely proud of the legacy of the work Ochsner Hare & Hare created in Kansas City and beyond, and with this change, we believe Olsson Studio will build on that work as we continue to expand our reach in the planning and landscape architecture industry.
Q: What other changes have we made to Olsson Studio?
Len: Olsson Studio has a new look that balances the Olsson brand with the studio’s vision, solutions, and creativity. We wanted a logo that is tied to the Olsson brand but offers a window that shows off the great work we do. This visual concept will be seen in every way we market Olsson Studio.
Q: Where do we go to learn more about Olsson Studio’s new brand?
Len: You can check out new brand resources for Olsson Studio, including brand guidelines, in the Brand Resources section on Oasis.
Tucked among the Rocky Mountain foothills 20-orso miles southwest of downtown Denver, a small but mighty reservoir pools on the South Platte River.
Strontia Springs, opened in 1983 by Denver Water, is among the most important bodies of water on Colorado’s Front Range. Approximately 80 percent of the household water the Denver utility delivers to the area’s 1.5 million residents passes through the reservoir. Add the facility’s capacity for generating more than 1 megawatt (MW) of hydroelectric power, and you can see how important the reservoir is to the utility and the quarter of Colorado’s population it serves.
Multiple challenges – many related to wildfires – have dogged Strontia Springs recently, but few have been as urgent as those in 2018 when Denver Water faced the double whammy of an expiring project license and outdated technology.
Over nearly two years, Environmental Technical Leader Jody Glennon and Olsson’s Colorado Environmental team stepped in to help Denver Water effectively turn two negatives into a positive.
Jody and her team helped avoid a cumbersome relicensing process by taking advantage of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) option to exempt smaller dam facilities like Strontia Springs from licensing. And they participated in discussions on updates to technology that would allow the dam to produce approximately 15 percent more electricity (1.25 MW, up from 1.09 MW).
They also helped the utility with outreach, keeping the public safe and informed about an area frequented by outdoor enthusiasts.
Jody’s project management, impressive when you consider the project was one of her first at Olsson, merits this month’s Engineering Possibilities shout-out.
“That was one site walk that I especially enjoyed,” Jody said. “Being in nature and seeing people – walkers, runners, fishermen, birders, cyclists – and the resident herd of bighorn sheep all enjoying a space so close to a 243-foottall feat of engineering was pretty cool.”
Olsson’s contributions at Strontia Springs came at a good time for Denver Water. In recent years, sediment buildup from post-wildfire runoff has threatened the reservoir’s available capacity.
“There is a real chain reaction that happens from the wildfires in our state,” Jody said.
Because it’s effective in perpetuity, the licensing exemption affords Denver Water more opportunity to focus on environmental issues like post-wildfire runoff. It also could open the door for Denver Water, or other clients, to tap Olsson for more applications for FERC license exemptions. Hydroelectric facilities must be relatively small – with capacities of 10 MW or less – to be eligible to apply for an exemption.
Jody enjoys projects that require planning, strategizing, negotiating, and working with the public and regulatory agencies. Especially when a project means doing well by our communities; in this case, ensuring access to clean drinking water.
“Anytime you can help your client achieve their goals, improve reliability and sustainability and better the lives of people, that’s rewarding,” Jody said.
“I’d like to do more projects like this one.”
“Anytime you can help your client achieve their goals, improve reliability and sustainability, and better the lives of people, that’s rewarding.”
Chandler Phoenix
Marvin Ruppelt joined the Arizona Water and Transportation team as a senior engineer. He previously owned Ace Structural Engineers. Marvin has a B.S. in civil engineering from South Dakota State University.
Denver Field
Isabela McGinnity joined the Denver Field Administrative team as an office administrative assistant. She previously worked as an administrative assistant with a Los Angeles, California commercial real estate development company. Isabela has a B.A. in English and English literature from Rio De Janeiro State University.
Denver
Devyn Diaz joined the Arizona General Civil team as an associate landscape architect. Devyn has a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from Arizona State University. Devyn previously worked as a landscape architect and project manager for Design Ethic, LLC.
Nickolas Nehama joined the Olathe Field Operations team as a CMT assistant technician. He has a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Florida.
Lexie Abney joined the Recruiting team as a recruiting coordinator. She received her B.A. in tourism management and cultural heritage tourism from Indiana University –Purdue University Indianapolis. Lexie previously worked as an HR recruiter for Leiters Inc.
Nina Galdamez joined the HR Operations team as a human resources leader. She has a B.S. in business, marketing, and social media from the University of San Francisco. Nina previously worked for the City and County of Denver as a senior human resources business partner.
Kansas City
Ryan Mayberry joined the Computer Aided Design team as an applied technology assistant. He previously worked as a machining and assembly coordinator for care.coach. Ryan has a B.F.A. in industrial design from the University of Kansas.
Wesley Pratt joined the KCS Power Delivery team as an assistant engineer. He recently earned a B.S. in engineering from the College of the Ozarks.
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Kelly Williams joined the KS/MO/ DSM Roadway team as an associate engineer. Kelly previously worked as a senior civil engineer in aviation at Crawford, Murphy, & Tilly. Kelly has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology.
Karson Hillman joined the KS/MO/ DSM Roadway team as a student intern.
Rebekah Schroer joined the Benefits team as a compensation and benefits assistant. She previously worked as a benefits and compensation specialist at Sandhills Global. Rebekah has a B.S. in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jerry Yeager rejoined the Lincoln Drilling team as a senior driller. He was previously with Olsson for 13 years as a driller and is returning after a year in construction.
Kean Gutierrez joined the KC office on the Geographic Information Systems team as a student intern. Kean is currently pursuing a B.A. in environmental studies, and a geographic information systems certificate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Praveen Vankayala joined the Data Center General Civil team. Praveen has a master’s in civil engineering from North Carolina State University and a B.S. in civil engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras in India.
Patrick Barry joined the Omaha Data Center team as a design associate. He most recently worked as a document control site manager.
Avery Owen joined the programming team as a software development assistant. Avery has a B.S. in software development from Bellevue University.
Mirza Billah joined the Lincoln Nebraska Water/Wastewater team as an assistant engineer.
Annie Spielman joined the Employee Communications team as a communications coordinator. She has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Nebraska Omaha. Annie previously worked in the Nebraska University system.
Jackie Morrissey joined the Lincoln Nebraska Environmental team as an associate scientist. Jackie previously worked as an environmental scientist at AECOM Technology. Jackie has a B.S. in geology from Northwest Missouri State University, and a master’s in natural resource sciences with a specialization in hydrological sciences from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Josh Smrcina joined the Lincoln/ Omaha Mechanical/Electrical team as an assistant engineer. He previously worked as a mechanical engineer at Specialized Engineering Solutions. Josh has a B.S. and master’s in architectural engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln –Peter Kiewit Institute.
Chip Parks joined the Oklahoma Mechanical/Electrical team as a technical leader. He previously worked as a program executive at Integra Mission Critical. Chip has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University.
Michael
Jonah Mills joined the Fort Worth Data Center General Civil team as an assistant engineer. He previously served in the Army as an active duty infantry officer for six years. Jonah has a B.S. in civil engineering from the United States Military Academy.
KANSAS
Remote
Nader Shehata, assistant construction manager for the KC North Field Operations team, is relocating from North Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas remote.
OKLAHOMA
Tulsa
Austin Friis, CMT associate technician for the Oklahoma Field Operations team, is relocating from Denver, Colorado to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Patrick Houston joined the Fort Worth Telecom team as a team leader. He previously worked as a project coordinator at Grande Communications.
Colby Pruitt joined the Service Desk team as a service desk assistant. He received a B.S. in information systems from the University of Texas at Arlington. Colby previously worked as an IT support technician at Topographic Inc.
Tim Lee joined the Fort Worth Data Center On-Site Services team as a project engineer. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering and MECE from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. Tim previously worked as an engineering supervisor at SEAM Group.
Tathiana Arrocha joined the Dallas/Fort Worth Civil team as an assistant engineer. She previously worked as an engineer-in-training at Strand Engineering and Architecture. Tathiana has a B.S. in civil engineering from Technological University of Panama and a B.S. from David Institute in Panama.
Perrone joined the Dallas/Fort Worth Civil team as an assistant engineer.
Fort Worth
Plano
Beautiful. Striking. Magnificent. Pick your superlative, and it’s likely a fitting descriptor for Olsson’s new office in Joplin. We’ve been eager to share pictures of the new space since it opened this past fall. Michael Edwards and Pete Clouston have given us that opportunity with their recent photographic walk-through. You’ll definitely want to check out this photo gallery on Oasis.
We are Olsson, a nationally recognized, employee-owned engineering and design firm with a rich history of success. Our most important asset is our people—you—and we are dedicated to providing an environment where you can continue to learn, grow, and thrive.
