Engineering Epicenter
As Steve Hofmeister explained, Kansas City has more engineers per capita than any city in the country. He attributed that distinction, in part, to the history of westward expansion and the presence here of a few firms that took hold and grew large. He asked if there were any other contributing factors to Kansas City’s emergence as engineering epicenter.
Mike Fenske, vice president of the aviation division of Burns & McDonnell, suggested that the “great Midwestern work ethic” has played a role as well. “You have people here who want to serve others and who want to provide value to people,” he added. He does not believe that the same ethic is normative on the coasts.
Charlie LePage of Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers cited the area’s central location as a contributing factor in its emergence. Indeed, Stanford grads Clinton Burns and Robert McDonnell chose Kansas City some 113 years ago for its very centrality.
The number of firms located in Kansas City offers another advantage, said Jay Steinmetz, manager of engineering for Kiewit Power Engineers. “What it forces us to do,” he added, “is stay competitive on all fronts.”
“And the good thing about these guys is they take certain lessons from one firm to the next and it raises the level of quality at each firm,” said John Weiskopf, principal at DLR Group. “The owners and the clients get a better product from each engineering firm because we’re raising the bar.”
The consensus among participants was that the competition among the firms had resulted in higher quality engineering in the Kansas City region. “I can tell you when we hire someone from Burns & McDonnell or Black & Veatch,” added Steinmetz, “they’re a quality engineer. They have been trained. They have a lot of knowledge that we’re able to use.”
In part as a result of the competition, said Fenske, “the Kansas City area is generating and doing work at a world-class level.” He cited as example the nation’s largest BIM, or building information modeling, project right now is being done at Burns & McDonnell.
“I think that’s part of the thing that makes the Kansas City market so great,” said Gary Storm of Thornton Tomasetti. “There were always the opportunities that were tremendous here in Kansas City to work on worldwide high-profile projects, and I think our persona in the Midwest, our personality, is, we welcome those opportunities.”
Diversified Skills
Steve Hofmeister asked his colleagues whether the greater Kansas City region had the breadth of engineering knowledge that the world needed.
Jim Lewis thinks so. As chief administrative officer for Black & Veatch, he cited the company’s extensive work in electrical, mechanical, and power-plant engineering, as well as in civil engineering. Given the Sprint presence, telecom is also strong here, Lewis observed, as is power delivery, water treatment, and sewage treatment. And although Burns & McDonnell works on oil and gas, Lewis conceded that the Texas firms are stronger in that area.
Hofmeister wondered whether Kansas City was as cutting edge as it should be. Cliff Greenlief, managing director of Walter P. Moore’s Kansas City office, noted that the talent in the Midwest was as strong as the talent anywhere else. The obligation to grow that talent, Greenlief believes, falls on the individual firms more than on the colleges.