DRMP is celebrating success in strategic growth, which saw employees advancing to leadership roles, the firm expanding into new regions, and impactful project and community involvement collaboration opportunities.
This is what the firm’s leadership envisioned three years ago when it established strategic initiatives that led to the partnership with the Trilon Group in May 2022 – furthering the firm’s investments in growth for its employees and resources for clients.
“It’s exciting to see all the milestones that are being achieved with the implementation of the strategic initiatives. More importantly, with the growth that we’re achieving our employees are reaping the benefit,” said DRMP President Glenn Lusink, PSM.
Gaining Growth through Expansion and Collaboration
There’s much to celebrate.
Geographically, DRMP is expanding its footprint. The firm is working to further strengthen its presence in North Carolina’s western region, South Carolina, and Virginia. And the firm recently acquired Geomatics, a survey and mapping consulting firm in St. Augustine, Fla., that bolstered its presence throughout Northeast Florida.
Along with its employee growth and the expansion of its reach in new territories, DRMP is building upon its different market sectors and extending its services capacity through collaborating on projects with fellow Trilon partner firms.
The collaboration is reaping results, said Amanda Woods, PE, DRMP Vice President and Director of Transportation.
“We recently teamed with CPH, a partner firm, on a $6 million municipal project in Northeast Florida that neither one of our firms would have pursued alone,” Woods said. “We won that project through collaboration and that is a huge plus due to the partnership.”
Woods said the partner firms meet regularly to discuss more opportunities to learn each firm’s process as they build their work relationships.
In another project collaboration, DRMP’s Surveying & Mapping Division assisted its Michigan-based partner firm Mannik Smith Group (MSG) in providing sketch descriptions for a utility pipeline project that spanned four of MSG’s offices in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. DRMP’s surveying and mapping team has also worked on at least three other projects with partner firms.
Rise in Employee Growth Opportunities and Professional Development
Parallel to the growth of its operations, DRMP employees are also experiencing career growth and seizing opportunities for professional development. Many of its leaders have been elevated to managers, directors, vice presidents, and executive vice presidents, along with promotions companywide.
The firm is also seeing an increase in employee engagement and increased engagement in professional development.
While learning and professional development has long been a part of DRMP’s culture, in the last year the firm has focused its efforts to establish a formalized Learning & Development program that concentrates on mentorship and professional development resources for staff.
The payoff? More employees are obtaining their professional licenses and technical, administrative, and business certifications at all levels. There has been an increase in employees getting involved in professional organizations that impact the A/E/C industry and help foster better client relationships – beyond project managers, leaders, and business development.
Impacting Communities on a Larger Scale
When DRMP approached the idea of partnership with an equity firm, it was about more than business. The firm was not only looking for a partner to support its initiatives for the expansion of its business and opportunities for employees, but one that matched its core values.
The firm’s mission through its thriving community involvement/philanthropy program, DRMPCares, is to enhance the quality of life in the communities it serves. DRMP’s strategic plan also established various subcommittees focused on wider community involvement, philanthropy, and sustainability efforts. Through the partnership, that mission has been amplified.
When Category 5 Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida, DRMP and fellow partner firms came together to raise $5,000 for the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida to assist those in need. With a back-to-school charitable initiative in the works, DRMP is building its community involvement outreach just as its building its business and support of its employees.
With so much accomplished within the first half of the year, the firm anticipates even greater progress as it embarks on a successful future ahead.
