It’s time to celebrate in Columbus!
Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.’s Columbus office marks its silver anniversary this year.
The office was established in 1997 with waste, civil, and environmental practices. Ecological services were added in 2004. Over the past 25 years, it has grown into a full-service office supporting each market with diversity across the professional disciplines.
CEC Vice President John DiNunzio joined the Columbus office in 2002 and took over as the Office Lead from 2009-2020. “Columbus is a solid office with a central location and a diversity of staff.” He now serves as a regional vice president for the firm, overseeing operations for Columbus.
At the helm for the past two years has been Bill Acton, CEC Vice President. He’s been with the Columbus office for 18 years and was instrumental in starting its Ecological Practice.
The Columbus office is marking its 25th anniversary.
The people
With more than 60 professionals, CEC Columbus now has civil engineers, surveyors, biologists, geologists, and environmental scientists.
“We pride ourselves on our people … on the quality of our staff. There are a lot of smart people in Columbus,” Acton says. “We’re thoughtful and selective in the hiring of our professionals.”
It is a fast-paced, but laid-back office that reflects CEC leadership. It’s a very supportive environment, which fosters the success of our employees. Collaboration and teamwork are encouraged.
“We have a younger group of people here and they are very open to mentorship,” DiNunzio says.
The projects
The Columbus office’s revenue sources include diverse market sectors such as real estate development, public sector, natural gas transmission, waste management related services and aggregate mining permitting and development.
“The diversity of our projects is source of pride. We don’t rely on just one client, one type of project. We have a multitude of clients who value their relationships with us, and us with them,” Acton says. “It’s a shining example to have multiple projects across all of the different market sectors.”
The Columbus office has done extensive work in real estate — both large-scale, industrial and smaller residential projects. Another valued client is Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO). DiNunzio said Columbus’ work for SWACO been instrumental in developing their facilities and providing airspace expansion for the local authority that serves Central Ohio.
Connect Housing Blocks is another client for CEC Columbus. The innovative Connect Housing Blocks is developing a technologically advanced manufacturing system to create affordable housing units. The manufacturing process creates both the scale and speed needed to begin meeting the demand for affordable housing.
CHB has secured its first manufacturing site located in Columbus Ohio and is commencing construction on the manufacturing line. This 500,000-square-foot facility is capable of producing 1,700 apartments annually without additional capital improvements.
CEC is completing the design work on the prototype conversion of a former distribution center to be used as a manufacturing base for Connect Housing Blocks, Acton says. “It should be ready within a year.”
The staff celebrated the office anniversary with games, food, and fun.
The culture
Columbus embraces a “work hard and play hard” culture. The office created its own culture statement: “To create an energized and universally supportive work environment focused on recognizing and celebrating the value and respect for our colleagues, our clients and our mission to the best consulting firm in the region.“ Socialization and team building events are regularly held, which include off-site recreation, volunteering, and in-office happy hours. The staff had a great time celebrating the anniversary with a gathering featuring games, food, and plenty of fun.
Giving back is an important component of CEC Columbus. The staff volunteers in various community organizations and activities, such as charity runs for the Ronald McDonald House, the Bowl for Kids’ Sake event for Big Brothers Big Sisters, stream cleanups, Habitat for Humanity events, and community food pantries/kitchens.
“We are very transparent. We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” Acton says.
Here are a few more shots from the celebration.
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