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Regardless of the field, advantages like cutting-edge technology can only go so far – the heart of any company and the ones responsible for its success are its valued team members. In 2020, this unwavering belief in the importance of its people led Larson Design Group (LDG) to establish the President Awards, a celebration of the hard work, dedication and accomplishments of its employee-owners.
In the fall of 2020, team members submitted nominations for two categories: Employee-Owner of the Year and Project of the Year. The nearly two dozen nominations represented a diverse mix of staff, operational groups, project types and LDG geographies – a testimony to the scope and reach of LDG’s people and their work. Recently, the winners of these inaugural awards were recognized with a virtual event.
The Employee-Owner of the Year award recognizes those who exemplify the attributes of employee-ownership, as well as LDG’s culture and vision and values. Employee-owners from departments ranging from Corporate Service Teams to Operations were nominated by their colleagues. After a thorough review process by LDG’s President & CEO, David Martin, and the Employee-Ownership Committee, Max Inkrote, Program Manager with LDG’s Highway Design team, was chosen as the 2020 Employee-Owner of the Year.
Max has been with LDG for 28 years and is “a mentor and the driving force behind culture for this company providing project, career, and life lessons with passion,” according to LDG’s Joseph Romano IV, Director of Highway Design, who nominated Max. “He is loved and respected by clients, consistently exceeding their expectations and going above and beyond. He’s honest and caring and the model employee owner.”
Max said he was “really honored” just to be nominated, and that he’s been a part of LDG for so long because he believes “it’s a great company and has always been a great company.”
“In my career, I’ve been a part of quite a bit of business development and hiring new employees, and when you really believe in your company, those tasks are much easier,” he said. “When I meet a new client and tell them about LDG, I‘m speaking from the heart.”
Max Inkrote
The Project of the Year award highlights a particular project’s technical expertise and positive community impact. Each of the submissions – which represented the broad scope of LDG’s work, from water/wastewater facilities to retail design – showcased those aspects, featured robust project teams, and demonstrated LDG’s commitment to client service excellence. After a review process, executive leadership team selected the Stites Tunnel and Bridge Alternate Design project in Monroe County as the winner.
LDG’s role in this unique, complex project was to develop an alternate design using precast concrete bridge segments and post-tensioning to provide further innovation for the approach structures and facilitate the timing and scheduling of multiple site activities. LDG worked closely with the H&K Group as their engineer to brainstorm the alternate design and complete the final design and plans. LDG also provided construction phase engineering, including designing the temporary support structures and on-site verification of post-tensioning and grouting operations.
“I truly appreciate the confidence that LDG had in us that allowed us to pursue this challenging opportunity,” said Quentin Rissler, who served as project manager. “My team and I learned many new things, and we were ultimately successful not only because of teamwork, but because of the great relationships we built with our clients. And in accepting this award, I’d like to thank the key LDG team members who worked tirelessly on this project: Ryan Stauffer, Reshmi Lal and Dave Aderhold.”
Stites Tunnel and Bridge Alternate Design
“Larson Design Group was founded on a dedication to our clients and our core values as an employee–owned company. We’re extremely proud of the success we have had over the past year,” said President and CEO David Martin. “These awards shine a spotlight on our employee-owners and their accomplishments not only in the work we do, but also in how we serve the communities where we live, work and play.”
Founded in 1986, Larson Design Group is an award-winning national architecture, engineering, and consulting firm with 12 offices in five states and a vision to elevate client relationships, enrich the careers and lives of its employee-owners, and enhance the communities in which it operates. For more information, visit www.larsondesigngroup.com.
The health and safety of our team members and clients is our top priority. Click here to read about LDG’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.