Published reports indicate that most A/E firms continue to climb out of one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression, and indications are that the A/E industry as a whole is looking very healthy in the near term. With financial performances improving, most firms are back on track with their strategic initiatives. I am pleased to report that GAI is also following this positive trend. Our staff size has increased over last quarter, our markets are healthy, and we are poised to have an even better year in 2015 than 2014. Strong, healthy firms celebrate their successes, but they also don’t wait on the sidelines before moving forward with their strategic objectives. They get to work on how to leverage their successes into sustainable results that bring long-term benefits to the firm. That is why GAI is targeting our energies this year on three important initiatives – marketing coordination, quality and safety, and project management. Let me briefly explain.
For marketing coordination, we are focused on understanding and capturing who in our firm is meeting with our clients and what they are learning from these meetings. Effective business development strategies start with “boots on the ground” actions. So this year, GAI gathered all our senior Project and Client Managers together for an internal, informal networking meeting to share ideas on developing marketing strategies across our 900+ person firm. This meeting generated new relationships, trust, and synergy on new business development strategies to pursue.
Quality and safety are always important issues. This year, GAI invested in its first full-time Health and Safety Director to oversee safety on our job sites and in our workplaces. And while last year we concentrated on the quality of our technical operations, this year, GAI is ramping up our Quality Management Systems (QMS) to assist our corporate services groups in providing quality services to our technical operations teams. Our goal is to meet our clients’ expectations with quality work while providing safe working environments for our staff.
Finally, Project Manager engagement is at the heart of everything we do at GAI. So this year, GAI invested in a Director of Project Management to formalize our best practices, train new PMs, and enhance our clients’ experience. The training and mentoring of the current and the next generation of project managers is a significant and continuous focus for our firm as we grow.
It is exciting to report another positive financial quarter for GAI. By investing in initiatives that support our growth during good times, we bring long-term benefits to the firm.
Gary DeJidas, PE
President and CEO, GAI Consultants, Inc.
