by Kevin Grigg, PE, President and Chief Executive Officer
They say hindsight is 20/20; as we look back over the past year and into the advent of the year 2020, I think it is worthwhile to both celebrate our prior year’s accomplishments and to look forward, with great anticipation, to the many opportunities that are before us as the new year unfolds.
We’ve certainly grown this year. We brought on 42 new talented individuals, including 12 new employees in our Massachusetts offices. We’re exploring new markets and solidifying our presence as climate, place, energy, and mobility experts. Our last quarter of the calendar year has been incredibly strong and our outlook for the new year suggests continued strong returns.
We found our footing with the company reorg. I’m so proud of the collaboration among offices, business lines, and departments that has come from it. I’ve watched the entire North Region get behind the leadership of JoAnn Fryer, PE. This is a testament to the patience and professionalism of both her and her employees as they continue to make solid progress strengthening our performance throughout the region. With the ongoing support of our business lines, the Central and North Regions have performed beyond expectations. We’ve gotten better about sharing work across offices and across departments. It’s great to see people working in offices that are not their home base and it’s great to see new relationships building because of the sharing of work.
It’s also important to celebrate our personal and professional developments. We had some notable “retirements” – Phil Moreschi and Mike Callahan retired as shareholders, though both continue to do full-time work on part-time schedules. Both John Guzze and Matt Skelly got married and our Fuss family welcomed three beautiful new babies this year: Maddox, Gabriella, and Blake! Jennifer Jones passed the Professional Surveyors exam, Myles Simon was named one of the “3 Under 30” by “The Connecticut Landscape Architect”, Gina DePasquale earned two scholarships (from ITE and WTS), Jeff Craig became a Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional, Phil Moreschi was accepted into the UConn Academy of Distinguished Engineers, Christina Viera achieved her PE, Lauren Mello received her CNU-accredited Professional Certificate, Tim Griffing won Outstanding ACE Mentor of the Year, Slywia Tanski passed the FE exam, Kevin Flood received the Award of Merit from NEWWA, Dan LaFrance won the LSPA Member Award, and Sandra Guzman became a Lead Risk Assessor. The “us” in “Fuss” has not just gotten bigger, it’s gotten better and has been recognized for so doing many times over.
As a team we had some notable achievements. The Bradford Dam Removal and Nature-like Fishway Project won the ACEC-RI Engineering Excellence Award, Six Corners in Springfield broke ground, the Canton Village Districts Design won the Award of Excellence from the Connecticut Main Street Center, the Windsor Upper Dam Consolidation Grouting Project won the ACEC-VT 2019 Vermont Excellence Award, the South Yard Assembly Building broke ground, and Beehive Bridge opened and was widely celebrated by both the public and the professional world, having already been awarded the ACEC-CT 2020 Engineering Excellence Award.
In light of the holiday theme of giving, I remain impressed by the many often unseen gifts our employees tirelessly give – in particular your time and your thoughtfulness. Whether donating your hair (Melissa Trombley and Aimee Bell), passing on your passion for your work to the next generation (Brianna Church, Rachel Schnabel, Paul Charette, Tim Griffing, David Rosengarten, Katherine Patch, Amy Johnson, Nicole Fox, and so many others), donating to food pantries/schools/local charities, or volunteering at the New Horizons Soup Kitchen (Manchester North office), you impress me with your true dedication to our communities.
In closing, I am privileged to work with you all and believe that the best way to honor your dedication is to reflect your commitment in the way that we run our business. To that end, we have taken, and will continue to take, great steps to make Fuss & O’Neill a best place to work. Manchester North has already moved into their new space and Manchester South will be undergoing renovations in the coming months. The new year brings great improvements to employee benefits regarding paid family leave, transitional return to work, and the expansion of part-time benefits. I’m particularly proud of our renewed vision – our “fUSs” initiative. Its five principles (employees, performance, behavior, clients, and the future) underscore our mission: to enhance and promote our status as the region’s leading civil and environmental consulting firm by attracting and retaining top talent, providing innovative, practical, and cost-effective solutions to our clients’ needs, and by continuing to advance our culture of continuous improvement, individual respect, authentic inclusion, and uncompromising integrity. These will be our guiding principles as we walk together into the new year and our path forward for years to come.
Have a safe and restful holiday season, and please take time to enjoy your families. I look forward to seeing what amazing things we do together in the new year.
About the Author:
Kevin Grigg, PE is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Fuss & O’Neill. He has been with the firm for the past 7 years of his 30+ year career. Kevin has managed projects and business units in the environmental, facilities, water, and transportation markets. His primary areas of technical expertise lie in the railroad and public transportation market segments, having managed a wide variety of bus and rail transit projects throughout the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Kevin is excited about his new role and furthering the company’s mission of creating works of life.
