President and CEO of Cedarville Engineering Group (Pottstown, PA), a civil and environmental design-build firm that delivers value through innovation.
By Liisa Andreassen
Correspondent
Cedarville Engineering Group is a federally-certified 8(a), woman-owned small business and DBE/WBE certified engineering technology company. April Barkasi, its president and CEO, is also the founder and a civil engineer at the firm.
The crossroads of technology and infrastructure.
“I have a passion for improving people’s quality of life through technology and infrastructure,” she says. “It’s just what civil engineers do.”
Barkasi has a heightened interest in harmoniously using technology in CEG’s infrastructure projects and says that they are not afraid to try new things in order to use the right tools for the job. In fact, the company has been recognized as an industry leader in 3D modeling and digital twin technology. In 2016, Barkasi was the recipient of the Engineering News Record Newsmaker Award for her use of innovative technology for redevelopment of contaminated public lands; and in 2021, she received the Villanova University Professional Achievement for her contributions to technology and entrepreneurship.
“When it comes to the future of the industry, I’m most excited about the technology that’s becoming available,” Barkasi says.
CEG is currently exploring two AI proposal writing tools, but has not made a decision as of yet. One was created by the Department of Defense for its procurement office and the other is more generic in nature, but powerful nonetheless.
Recent projects that used 3D modeling tech include creating a 3D model of Fenway Park where it worked with Aerial Genomics to collect data; and taking a photogrammetric survey by an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to capture photographs for a client that provided an existing conditions model to illustrate manholes, building outlines, curbs, and roadways, helping to identify current infrastructure conditions. Contours were also shown on the model for a better understanding of the terrain.
Meeting growth demands.
In addition to being excited by tech, Barkasi is also motivated to grow the firm and it seems to be happening quickly. CEG’s clients are local, state, and federal government agencies as well as commercial, industrial companies, and educational institutions throughout the country. To meet growth demands they recently brought both IT and HR in-house. They’ve also made some key hires and says they have some real “professional horsepower now.”
“With uncertainty in some other sectors we were in a good position to recruit top people,” she says. “We’re a small business, but we’re growing fast. I’m confident that infrastructure work will continue to be strong.”
She admits that with that growth does come some challenges, but she and her team are facing them head on.
“Strategic hires can put a strain on cash flow for a smaller firm, but it will pay off in the end,” she says.
As she’s grown the firm she’s learned some lessons along the way – one of the most important being, “when a wrong fit is in the wrong seat, don’t wait to make a move.”
“We’ve been through a lot during our 15 years in business,” she says. “But as long as you learn from those mistakes, it’s OK. Years back, I hesitated to let someone go who was in a key role because I was concerned about reallocating staff. It ended up having a detrimental effect on the whole group. We lost clients and staff. We learned that lesson the hard way and it won’t happen again.”
That’s one of the reasons why CEG puts a real focus on training and communication. They have an all-hands-on-DISC training once a year to learn about different communication and behavioral styles.
“It’s so interesting to see the skeptics of this type of training have that ‘aha’ moment,” she says. “Once they realize that they can use this knowledge in their professional and personal lives, they get it and appreciate it even more.”
As a 2024 winner of Zweig Group’s Best Firm to Work For Award, Barkasi says CEG decided to pursue the application for the award designation to get staff feedback.
“Our mission is to be a great place for great people to work,” she says. “The feedback we received from staff during this application process was very helpful. We learned that more junior staff were interested in stronger career path opportunities and more flexible options for time off. We’ve addressed those issues and will continue to pursue this designation in the future to drive the firm forward.”
As part of being a great place to work, Barkasi says that she ensures leaders don’t have too many people to manage. Teams are made up anywhere from five to eight people – no more.
“It’s important that managers not just manage, but lead. I want them to have time to be mentors and coaches too,” she says. “They also work to set professional growth opportunities and have collaborative goal setting between them and their team members. From infrastructure and technology to sustainability and problem-solving, engineers shape our future in countless
ways.”