Culture

 

Here at Atwell, one of our core values is constant improvement. We are always seeking growth, development, and continued education opportunities for our employees at all levels. Whether a team member is new to the company or has been working with Atwell for decades, our leadership is passionate about challenging our team to keep expanding their comfort zones and tackling new projects. One of the greatest examples of this passion in action comes from our Chief Financial Officer, Rod Petschauer. We sat down with him to learn more about his approach with his team, as well as what skillsets he’s developing for himself. 

How do you motivate your team?

I am constantly seeking ways to stretch my staff’s comfort levels and give them opportunities for new work assignments that they have not previously undertaken.  It’s important to me that my team feels engaged and challenged. These types of growth opportunities can be great motivators for future success.

What’s your advice for delivering feedback?

I’m very, very intentional about delivering feedback that is always immediate and consistent for both positive feedback and constructive criticism.  My team is provided with feedback as quickly as possible and frequently throughout the year, so there should never be a surprise in a review.

Feedback isn’t like wine – it doesn’t improve with age.  That’s why getting right to it and communicating things quickly is essential.

What action steps do you take to remain an advisor to clients?

In my position, my clients are all internal to Atwell.  They include the project managers, directors, vice presidents, and senior executives throughout the organization, but to me, they are clients, nonetheless.  I ask my team to view Atwell, SCS, and RVI employees as clients and to treat them accordingly.  As a leader and advisor for my internal clients, I use my expertise and experience to thoroughly analyze the firm’s financial/operational issues and develop a plan with a clear and concise conclusion.

What skillset are you currently developing?

The organization’s recent substantial growth, both organically and through mergers and acquisitions, has certainly challenged me to develop a new skill set.  Our acquisition activity during the past 12 months has been at the highest level we’ve ever had. Getting a transaction completed is one thing, but integration is when the fun can really begin!  The process of shifting from acquisition to integration tasks has required a new skillset I didn’t previously rely upon but has inspired development and investment for ease of adjustment as well as a positive workplace environment for all involved.

What’s one lesson you had to learn as you started taking more of a leadership role?

One thing that was never taught in undergraduate accounting or during my MBA studies was an appreciation for human nature.  As I grew into a leadership role, I found that understanding human nature is critical to effective leadership.  I sincerely believed everyone was wired and thought just as I did, so it was a profound insight for me when I realized that was not the case. We’re all wired differently, so the approach I need to lead and mentor staff varies from staff member to staff member. That was a major epiphany for me.

Additionally, I had to learn how to delegate tasks to be an effective leader.  I was accustomed to doing everything myself but delegating and giving other team members opportunities to grow is an essential leadership skill.

By: Lauren Longest, Digital Communications Manager

When I made the decision to become a working mother, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I’d heard from friends and colleagues just how hard it can be but knew millions of women have persevered. I’ve always thought “I am strong” and “I can do anything I put my mind to.” But what happens when your mind turns against you? When you realize that no matter how strong you are, you are stuck in a loop of self-doubt and loathing?

Whether it was my upbringing or portrayals in media, or maybe both, I grew up believing that mental health was something that only applied to those who struggled with extremely debilitating issues requiring medical intervention. It wasn’t until I experienced my own struggles with post-partum depression and anxiety that I realized it was something that could just as easily affect my life.

Company culture can affect everything

As I was becoming aware of my relationship with my mental health, I also realized the role that my professional environment had on my life outside of the office. I originally thought it was just work. I could be there for a few hours and then “leave work at work” and come home to be with my family – I know, it’s starting to sound like the plot of “Severance”. However, it just doesn’t work that way. We are people who have passions and struggles that often cross the line between our work and home life.

As I was trying to white-knuckle my way through my post-partum struggles, I started to recognize the subtle ways a company culture can impact my ability to feel healthy. It’s the anxiety you feel inside of a pumping room when you hear coworkers by your desk questioning how long you are taking. It’s the heavy sigh you breathe when you get the email in your inbox that your child is ill and needs to stay home from daycare, followed by the chime of a Teams message asking why you haven’t replied to an email that came in a couple hours ago. It’s also the not-so-subtle passing of a promotion opportunity because I “seemed to really be struggling with being a new mom and the pandemic” without the offer of help or resources.

And I know I’m not the only one. In the quest to find a community online, anyone can come across approximately 867,000 TikTok influencers speaking on the same topics. The more I scrolled, I started to feel like this is just life now, and that we’re all experiencing it. It’s just the best we can all hope for.

 

Choosing Atwell made a difference in my mental health

While a single company is not the cause of my post-partum mental health struggles – we have a lack of sleep and wild hormones to thank for that – it certainly didn’t make it easy to move through that difficult time in my life. Joining Atwell has lifted a huge weight from my shoulders and given me back that sense of confidence that I had lost. More than the unlimited PTO (which is extremely helpful for those unexpected illness emails!), there is a culture of trust and understanding. The first time my son came down with a stomach bug after joining Atwell, I braced myself for what was usually a stressful time of planning secondary care and fielding scrutinizing questions about my work and productivity. Instead, I was met with genuine concern for my family’s health and the flexibility to do what I needed.

The leadership here understands the importance of prioritizing mental health breaks, having authentic, personal, and sometimes vulnerable conversations about real life, and trusting in employees that have proved their value and integrity. Within just 6 months of joining my team, I was offered that opportunity for promotion and the feeling of recognition and respect that was lacking before. Knowing that I have real support gives me the freedom to meet the unexpected needs of my family but also the desire to go above and beyond for a company that has given me so much.

There was a time when I thought I had lost myself and that I needed to accept this new version of me. But I am so thankful to say that I am getting back to who I once was. Not only becoming a better employee, but a better mom too.

By: Rachel Kertis

What started as an intriguing internship idea has turned into a potential career path. My experience with the Atwell internship empowered me in multiple ways: I was able to work independently, strengthen my comfort in the community, and learn about an industry I had not previously considered. It is because of the internship program that I am interested in a career in the oil and gas market.

I initially learned about the internship offered by Atwell when I attended the job fair at my university. It was there that I was able to speak with supervisors and my interest in a summer in the field was sparked. It wasn’t too much longer before I decided to jump in! As a civil engineering major, it had never occurred to me that a career in oil and gas was an option for me. Now, at the end of my experience, I’m interested in pursuing this further.

Each day as a field intern for a natural gas project out of Atwell’s Cannonsburg office was different, interesting, and engaging. I was armed with an Atwell vehicle and a GPS receiver to locate gas meters and service lines on a GIS map. Whenever I had an opportunity to engage with the homeowners or community members, I was able to explain the work I was doing and represent Atwell with pride. I consider this to be my greatest accomplishment in the internship. I know my work is making an impact on the community as the county creates a map to know more about where gas meters are placed. I felt like I was part of something bigger, knowing this map will be used to keep my community members safe.

My favorite part of the internship was the people at Atwell. I always enjoyed our internship meetings and felt supported in knowing my supervisors and teammates were just a phone call away if I had any questions. In addition to the sense of connectedness and shared professional development, I was able to learn much more about navigating the weather and how to plan around weather patterns.

Before this internship, my professional interests were aligned with the construction industry. This internship reinforced that interest. There were days when I was visiting a field site still under construction to locate the meters. That activity alone granted me more insight into how a home is built and where the service lines are and how the meter placement is planned. In addition to construction, Atwell taught me a degree in civil engineering can also be used for erosion and sedimentation engineering.

The internship also reinforced the value of safety in the field. The project I was working on itself was commissioned because of mislabeled wires that caused a housefire. After just a few weeks on the job, I was able to look at homes with a different perspective and understood why this internship was both important for my community and beneficial to my professional development.

It was clear throughout the internship that the people at Atwell genuinely wanted to help the interns learn and grow as much as we could. Most recently, we’ve been reading a book on building relationships that I’ve really enjoyed.

To anyone interested in an internship with Atwell, I’d highly recommend the experience. There is an abundance of help to transition from student into the professional landscape. There’s no sense of being “thrown to the wolves”, and it’s not like anything I’ve experienced in the classroom. Each intern is tasked with responsibilities that can feel overwhelming at first but quickly become manageable. The internship was flexible, and the journey to a new site each day made the work feel novel and exciting.  And, as an added benefit, everyone at the company was very friendly. It was an incredibly valuable experience and I’m happy I had the opportunity to learn and grow from it.

By: Tori Northrop

When I was going through school, my plan was to be a doctor. But when I started down my list of pre-requisite science classes, I quickly realized that I did not enjoy learning about human anatomy. What did excite me, though, was learning about animal behavior, evolution, and ecology. So, I decided to start exploring the different directions I could take with a degree in biology.

My choices felt limited. The most common alternate career paths – and the most talked about on campus– were either in government or academics. During my hunt for internships, I was talking with my father, and he introduced me to the idea of environmental consulting and working in the private sector. He is an engineer, and growing up, I often heard him talk about the business of land development, but never really thought it was a place for scientists and biologists. An internship opportunity at Atwell gave me a chance to dig deeper into the industry and all the possibilities.

Through this internship, I was able to learn more about the day-to-day responsibilities of a wildlife biologist/field technician and how the work they perform impacts the world around them. The role was fascinating, and I was excited to be given the opportunity to work side-by-side with other full-time employees. That kind of hands-on experience is not something you get in a lot of internships.

As an intern, I was able to truly experience what being a consultant means. I wrote reports and even developed new systems for the team to use. One of my biggest projects was helping to review and implement a new software for my team that improved efficiency and consistency of data for their growing team. Because our field technicians are constantly gathering data, this new tool helped them save time with their reporting. It made me proud that the work I was doing wasn’t just some filler work, but the result was actually going to be implemented into the company’s process.

One of the hardest parts was getting to know and understand the permitting and legal jargon that comes along with consulting projects. I learned more about how different species become protected, the requirements around working with wetlands, and the guidelines in place to protect them. That wasn’t something I studied or learned about in school, and it was interesting to see how it all connects to the work that I did in the field.

Throughout my internship I was never treated as “just an intern”, but as a someone who has knowledge and experience that can benefit the company. Atwell does a great job of seeing the potential people bring to the company, even at the lowest level, and they’re open to make changes to systems so that they work better and benefit everyone.

While I can’t say that my mind is made up on the career path that I can plan to pursue, I am thankful to have had the chance to learn about this side of the industry. The opportunity Atwell has given me to explore the different sides of environmental consulting in the private sector has made me excited for all the new possibilities I can pursue with my degree.

 

Atwell is once again looking to connect with the next generation of leaders this fall at career fairs all over the country. We are looking forward to meeting passionate students and hear what they’ve accomplished during their time on campus. Stop by and see us at any of the following schools!

Georgia Southern — August 31^st

Michigan Tech — September 6^th

Texas A&M — September 7th

Michigan State University – September 13^th

University of Arizona — September 13^th

LSU — September 13^th

University of Wisconsin — September 14^th

Purdue West Lafayette — September 14^th

University of Oklahoma — September 15^th

Western Michigan — September 21^st

Michigan Tech   September 21^st

Colorado School of Mines — September 21^st

Texas Tech University — September 21^st

University of Alabama — September 21^st

Texas Southern University — September 22^nd

Michigan State University — September 22^nd

Tennessee State — September 23^rd

Kennesaw State — September 27^th

Arizona State University — September 28^th

University of Arkansas — September 28^th

University of Georgia — September 29^th

Howard University — September 29^th

Lawrence Tech University — September 29^th

Michigan State University — October 4^th

Grand Valley State — October 11^th

Colorado State University — October 13^th

Purdue West Lafayette — October 13^th

Florida Gulf Coast University — October 13^th

University of Colorado Denver — October 26^th

Michigan State University  — November 3^rd

Abdullah Soofi is a student at Michigan State University who realized electrical engineering was his passion after his first site visit.

By: Abdullah Soofi

From playing with remote control cars as a kid to learning how remote control cars operated, I have always had a fascination for electronics. As my interests developed and I was introduced to scientific methods and physics theories, electrical engineering became the most fascinating to study.

Electrical engineering is everywhere: automotive, chemical, electronics, telecommunications, utilities, consumer goods, etc. However, what interested me the most was how power was generated and distributed nationwide. Throughout college, I learned about transformers and generators and started performing electrical calculations for real-life scenarios. When I went on my first site visit, I knew I was hooked. I saw transformers and transmission lines up close and realized what my calculations and drawings could create – a powerful infrastructure that benefits everyone. Since then, I knew I wanted to focus my electrical engineering interest in the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

During my first week at Atwell as an intern, I was introduced to the program SAM (System Advisory Model). This program helps you determine the performance of renewable energy systems, such as solar arrays and wind turbines. The engineer who mentored me shared training videos on how to use the program, walked me through the model he was working on, and then had me perform the calculations to see if I would receive the same results. I encountered a few hiccups since it was my first time using the program, but he assisted me every step of the way and ultimately, I got the same data as him. Having the ability to be introduced to new software and receiving hands-on experience on how to use the program in its entirety was an enlightening experience. It was rewarding to not only reach similar results but to work with different engineers to find a solution. To this day, learning and using SAM was my favorite task as an intern.

This past summer, I was exposed to 90%, 60%, and 30% reviews and taught the differences and levels of progression between the documents; wrote specifications and understood what variables you must consider in advising the contractor; and learned about other software like PVsyst – a tool to help study, size, and analyze data of PV (photovoltaic) systems. One of the most interesting projects I worked on was preparing an ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) winter readiness report for the state of Texas. Texas experienced many power shortages earlier this year due to the extreme cold weather and unstable power infrastructure, and this report identified solutions and implementable protocols so they are readily prepared should an event like this happen again. While creating the report, I was introduced to both ERCOT and the organization NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation). This process showed me how in-depth electrical engineers need to be in the work they do and how important it can be on a regional and national level. It fueled my interest in the industry that much more.

During my college classes, I am taught electrical engineering in a broad sense because it can be applied in so many different industries. At Atwell, I was exposed to a variety of projects and understood what to apply and how to apply my teachings in a real-world scenario. They provided the tools – like hands-on experience, training videos, or documents that other engineers created – to help me grow as a future electrical engineering professional. I worked with an inspiring team that took me under their wing and exposed me to the ins and outs of the AEC industry – like how they approach and complete tasks, which software they use, and how to use the software efficiently and effectively. This internship really helped me solidify my career choice to be an electrical engineer in the AEC industry.

Leah Harazin is a student at Michigan Technological University who found her dream role outside of the typical office setting.

By: Leah Harazin

Ever since I was young, I’ve had a passion for the outdoors. When I chose to pursue an Environmental Engineering degree, I knew that the ability to work outside would be a requirement for me and my career. The opportunity to be in the fresh air almost every day, explore, and learn about everything that surrounds me was – and still is – my dream.

I first heard about Atwell when they attended Michigan Technological University’s career fair in September 2021. They were friendly, caring, and talked to me like a professional – not just a number to satisfy their quota. The leaders I talked to spoke highly of the company. Even as an intern, Woody Siddall, Director of Talent Acquisition, asked what I wanted for my future to see if Atwell could help me achieve that goal. Woody didn’t make me feel obligated to fit within the posted job description, and instead, a job was designed for me based on my own interests and passions. After that, I knew I wanted to join Atwell for a summer internship.

Before joining the Atwell team, my leader asked what my ideal dream job would be. I told them I would love to spend 80% of my time outdoors and 20% in an office. Since starting my internship in May (except for the month of June for my military training), I have been outdoors every single day.  I have traveled across all of Michigan administering tests to classify land as wetlands and even stayed in Indiana for two weeks performing post-construction monitoring services. I had hands-on experience with wetland delineations, soil erosion and sediment control, and identifying and documenting plants. I learned about different aspects of hydrology, vegetation, and soil that I would have never known or noticed before – like how a chicory plant is used to make coffee and how the wintergreen plant is used for essential oils and flavoring like in wintergreen mints!

One of my most memorable work trips this past summer was a last-minute trip to Lexington, Michigan. For those who have never been to Lexington, it is a small, charming harbor village on the shore of Lake Huron. For four workdays, we delineated a site crossing over two county lines, which included mapping water bodies, water courses, agricultural drains/ditches, plant identification, and soil identification to determine if the area is a wetland. For the three nights we were there, and during my free time, I was able to kayak to explore the lake and unwind.

Throughout the summer, I have been a part of multiple projects. With our services typically taking two to four days for each project, I was always learning something new. The most interesting, and difficult, project I worked on was a potential solar farm in Michigan. This project was a sand mine, where the owner used the property to dig and sell sand causing water to backfill the sites. I was responsible for delineating the area and it was a rather large site with the most diverse vegetation and environment I have worked on yet.

Toward the end of my summer internship, I started my 20% in-office time. I expressed interest in learning about CAD software, and Atwell provided the tools I needed – a temporary license and an instructional guide – to explore the ins and outs of the program.

Having the option to work in the field and in the office is just one of many examples of why internships are instrumental for your career – it allows you to explore different avenues within your industry to see what you like and dislike before entering the professional world full-time. This past summer, I realized that my ideal job is working outdoors 95% of the time instead of 80%. I also realized that my teammates had a huge impact on me, and I was grateful to have inspiring leaders that saw me as an equal. I had the privilege to work with teammates of all ages and experiences this summer to help me paint a path of my ideal career progression. I am proud to say that I plan to extend my internship with Atwell until the end of the year, and I look forward to learning so much more about environmental engineering from subject matter experts.