Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award

Oct 27, 2011

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Press Release: October 27, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (October 27, 2011) – H. Kit Miyamoto Ph.D., S.E., often comes to face with death, emotional devastation, cholera, hurricanes, earthquake aftershocks and an array of dangerous situations – all in the name of his personal mission: to save the world. His outstanding accomplishments and personal courage make him ZweigWhite’s 2011 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award recipient, awarded today at the ZweigWhite Hot Firm Conference being held at the Montage Hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif., Oct. 26-27. The award is given each year to individuals in the architecture, engineering, planning, or environmental consulting fields who have courageously overcome obstacles to advance their firms to a new level of success and accomplishment. As president and CEO of earthquake and structural engineering firm Miyamoto International, Miyamoto and his team have worked as earthquake disaster responders, often arriving within 24 hours of a disaster in places such as Haiti, Japan, New Zealand, Italy and China. In the past year and a half, Miyamoto has trained and led a team of more than 600 Haitian engineers and masons in deploying rapid damage assessments of 400,000 structures – an effort that resulted in an effort to repair 120,000 damaged Haitian homes. Miyamoto also experienced last March’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan firsthand, as he already was in his native country with his family to speak at a conference. He left the conference immediately to assess damage in coastal areas. In August 2011, Miyamoto officially kicked off Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief, a nonprofit organization supporting disaster mitigation response, relief and reconstruction. He also was recently appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission by California Governor Jerry Brown. Miyamoto has a long list of awards and achievements and has published over 100 technical papers. He is a frequent international media spokesperson on earthquake and engineering issues. The 2011 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award is named after Jerry Allen. The first person in his family to graduate college, he eventually was known not only for being the CEO of Carter & Burgess, but also as an innovative and inspirational leader. Under Allen's direction, Carter & Burgess grew from some 200 employees and $17 million in revenue in 1988, to 2,300 employees and $381 million in revenue by 2002. Allen, who was an incredible athlete and in fantastic physical condition most of his life, was struck down by colon cancer at age 62. Carter & Burgess continues to be a leader in the A/E industry – a true testament to Allen's courageous leadership. Allen was a friend and mentor to Mark Zweig, founder & CEO of ZweigWhite. In his honor, a portion of the proceeds from the awards program will be donated to The American Cancer Society. The 2011 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award winner receives a copy of each of ZweigWhite’s 2011/2012 publications, including management surveys, best practices and marketing research books, a one-year membership to The Zweig Letter and The Zweig Marketing Letter, and complimentary registration to The Zweig Letter 2011 Hot Firm Conference, Oct. 26-27, 2011, at the Montage Hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif. For more information on the award visit www.zweigwhite.com/g-66-the-jerry-allen-award.aspx

About Zweig Group

Zweig Group, a four-time Inc. 500/5000 honoree, is the premiere authority in AEC management consulting, the go-to source for industry research, and the leading provider of customized learning and training. Zweig Group specializes in four core consulting areas: Talent, Performance, Growth, and Transition, including innovative solutions in mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, financial management, ownership transition, executive search, business development, valuation, and more. Zweig Group exists to help AEC firms succeed in a competitive marketplace. The firm has offices in Dallas and Fayetteville, Arkansas.