Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Octubre 2023 9 By David Steinkraus R obert Valdes didn't plan a career running his own engineering and architecture company. It happened that way, thanks to the influence of a teacher and his own experiences. Valdes Architecture & Engineering now employs about 200 people, two-thirds at its main office in Lombard, Illinois, and the remaining third at its satellite office in Griffith, Indiana. The com- pany engineers laboratory spaces, heating and cooling equipment upgrades, and petroleum refinery equip- ment upgrades, among other services. In some cases, it also designs the buildings to hold people and equipment, and recently has been hired for work that isn't industrial, such as building fire stations. Valdes grew up on the west side of Chicago, near the Oak Park border, and traces his career choice to a high school physics teacher. "He was more than an instructor. He was a counselor to us kids at the time," Valdes said. The teacher took a group of students on a tour of the engineering department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "They talked about what engineers do, and I was kind of hooked." He earned a degree in civil engineering at the university. The leap to owning his own business came during a period of turmoil in the engi- neering industry in the 1980s, he said. The national firm he was working for decided to leave the Chicago market, so it closed the 600-person offi- ce where Valdes worked. One of his clients wanted to keep working with him but said he had to incorporate, and that's how Valdes Architecture & Engineering began in 1992. CONSISTENTLY GOOD The company operates well with its current staff of about 200, Valdes said. "One of the key competitive advantages we were able to put forth in the market, almost from day one, is being able to do good work consistently. One of the things I saw in my early years as an engineer is consulting firms can someti- mes struggle with consistency. One project may turn out fine, and then the next one not so much. So being able to con- sistently deliver a good quality product, I thought, was rea- lly important," he said. That's why the number of employees is important, he added. "You don't want to grow to the point where that consistency starts to suffer." At the same time, the firm changes and adapts. Broadly speaking, Valdes Architecture & Engineering is considered a design firm because it inte- grates architecture and engi- neering. As the company has aged, it has diversified its ser- vices, Valdes said. Five or 10 years ago, the company would not have been associated with building fire stations, yet now it has done that as an extension of its core strengths, he said. CONSISTENT HIRING As a certified minority busi- ness enterprise, the company also emphasizes diversity in hiring and makes a great effort to recruit new college graduates, Valdes said. One of the managerial mistakes he's seen is reduced recrui- ting when market conditions change, he said. "You have to push back on that notion and stick to the program. Those fresh grads — five, six, seven years down the road — turn into your leaders." The company has been quite successful at recruiting engineering school gradua- tes who are Hispanic — as well as African American and members of other minority groups — but the compe- tition for such students is fierce, he said. "We also hire experienced engineers," Val- des said. "We have retirees who have decided to come back. There is no age limit to our interest in talent." Placing the company headquarters in Lombard was related to finding and keeping talented people, he said. The area is served by two major north-south roads (Interstates 294 and 355) and a major east-west road (Interstate 88) that simplify commuting for people who live in the western suburbs. The Griffith, Indiana, office was the same choice, he said. It allowed the company to tap a pool of talented people who would not consider commuting to Lombard. Like other industries, the design industry suffe- red a setback because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. "I still believe the country is recovering from the pande- mic." There was more activity in 2022 than 2021, more this year, and he expects increa- sed investment in 2024, Val- des said. With all of the infras- tructure in the United States that needs to be repaired or replaced, opportunities for engineering and architecture won't stop, he said. "My per- sonal view is that demand is going to increase in the years to come." Valdes Architecture & Engineering strives for consistently good service

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