CEO of AE2S (Grand Forks, ND), a civil/environmental engineering consulting firm specializing in drinking water, wastewater, and water resources.
By Liisa Andreassen
Correspondent
He doesn’t think it’s one thing – but rather a combination of the “right things” – that recently landed AE2S in the top 10 of Zweig Group’s Best Firms To Work For list. Meyer, the company’s CEO, says the company looks to create great employee experiences and the opportunity to work on some incredible projects.
Landmark projects, training, and benefits reap long-term success. AE2S is focused on water and building strong communities. For example, the Woodbury Project located in a suburb of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area was one that required an all-hands-on-deck approach – and employees rose to the occasion.
The City of Woodbury hired AE2S as its lead project engineering firm to help address PFAS. The company implemented a near-term solution which involved designing and constructing a temporary water treatment plant, bringing four of seven wells back into service and ensuring ample production capacity to meet peak summer demand.
“The work we do here really matters to the world we live in, and that matters to our employees,” Meyer says. “They have the opportunity to make a positive difference in the world around them.”
One thing the company has really focused on in the past couple of years is providing learning opportunities and career pathways to develop current and emerging leaders. It has taken a great amount of time levelling up its leadership and increased learning opportunities for not only managers, but the entire staff.
AE2S’s “Leadership Matters,” program was created on the basis that leadership can come from anywhere – regardless of title or position. All staff can apply, but only 12 are admitted to the year-long leadership program. Based on the success of “Leadership Matters,” AE2S also developed another leadership development program for managers this past year called “Operations Matters” – specifically for operations managers and assistant operations managers – for all of its offices.
Next year, the company plans to expand the format to launch “Practices Matters” to focus on the continued development of the individuals that lead its services areas, as those individuals lead many client relationships and serve as strong mentors for its project team employees.
The company is also proud to offer an incredible benefits package (it has 100 percent paid family health insurance) and incredibly flexible working arrangements.
“While we feel strongly about the benefits of being an ‘in-office’ company, we also offer a high degree of flexibly for employees to manage their professional and personal lives,” Meyer says.
He adds that sometimes he feels that the little things mean the most.
For example, the company recently had a wellness challenge associated with the 2024 Summer Olympics. Half of the staff participated. There were weekly winners, and the top winner received 40 hours of PTO. The participation rate was extraordinary and the excitement for the challenge was great.
A future to-do list. For the moment, Meyer is focused on strategic growth strategies.
“Historically, we’ve grown almost entirely organically – through hiring and employee development as grassroots expansion into new geographies, but now I’m excited about the opportunity to incorporate strategic acquisitions into our future growth plans,” he says.
When the firm’s leadership first started thinking about acquiring firms, they contacted an outside party to assist who helped them to put together an M&A playbook. It listed about 100 firms that had similar cultures, characteristics, etc. The team narrowed the list down to a few.
Meyer is now taking a personal approach and reaching out to firms directly.
“I find that this personal touch helps to build better relationships,” he says. “I’m enjoying that process and am happy I can do it.”
The company’s focus is on geographic growth and it’s planning to open an office in Idaho by year end. Mostly, it’s looking to the central states for expansion.
Recruitment also continues to stay front and center. To attract top talent, AE2S is actively working to adapt and execute integrated recruitment plans. A few very recent changes to address recruitment include increased PTO for experienced employees, parental leave benefits, and an aggressive recruiting bonus available to internal staff who help to recruit new employees to AE2S. There’s a $10,000 internal bonus for listed positions on its website.
And when it comes to DEI, AE2S examines it from all angles. The company’s hiring practices go beyond affirmative action and rather focus on finding the best people for the right positions. It recruits at diverse career fairs, schools, and the like. It also focuses on having good employee onboarding experiences, so that new hires feel welcome and comfortable.
“We support self-directed employee communities, serving on professional committees and boards that support diversity and inclusion efforts, and other outreach efforts to attract underrepresented people to the engineering field,” he says. “I’m so excited about our future growth.”
