Globalization may be the single biggest factor in the consolidation that’s taken place in many business sectors in recent years. The middle ground has largely been abandoned in favour of partnerships and mergers aimed at boosting competitiveness in international markets, while smaller companies have stuck to local and niche markets.
This has been especially true of the architects, engineers and other consultants serving the development industry, where acquisitions have transformed firms such as Stantec (TSX, NYSE:STN) into interdisciplinary giants – something that didn’t appeal to George Steeves, president of local engineering firm Sterling Cooper Consultants Inc.
But having cultivated international connections through a career that’s seen him work on projects from Canada Place to the Shangri-La, Steeves knew that teaming up was the best way to sharpen his firm’s focus on designing top-notch mechanical systems.
The result was Sterling Cooper’s merger this spring with Norman Disney & Young (NDY), an Australian engineering firm whose Canadian expansion Steeves is now overseeing.
“We like to think we’re the best at everything, and we’re very good at a lot of things, but the other offices of NDY have a lot of ideas that we haven’t thought of,” Steeves said during a recent interview at his office, the reflections of the downtown towers he’s tackled glinting off the smooth surface of the boardroom table.
“Having one office in one city does not allow you as good a knowledge on how to design buildings the best. Having several offices in many areas of the world will really help us, and help our clients.”
NDY adds expertise in the areas of electrical design and fire protection as well as elevator design – all important elements for Sterling Cooper, which has focused on mixed-use highrise projects.
Sterling Cooper’s expertise will complement and expand NDY’s work in commercial properties. Together the firms have 650 staff, including Tony Arnel, former chairman of the World Green Building Council.
Australia, short of water and with energy costs three to four times those in B.C., has been a good proving ground for work in sustainable design – experience Steeves believes will benefit Vancouver builders.
But the merger wouldn’t have been possible without compatible corporate cultures, and Steeves repeatedly mentions the importance of “hiring the right people, training them well and giving them the tools to do the right work” – by which he means work that meets the sustainability requirements of the client and local government while respecting the project’s capital cost constraints.
Being able to work with clients to ensure that a job is done to everyone’s satisfaction is also important.
“Are we accessible? Do people like dealing with us?” he asks. “There has been a knock against engineers that we don’t always have the people skills, full stop.”
While hiring decisions can bring the right people on board, training has also been important. Sterling Cooper retained the Robinson Group to provide ongoing training in the soft skills engineers need to collaborate. The decision has paid off.
“We’re only as good as our extended teams – of architects and structural engineers and mechanical engineers,” said Ian Gillespie, president of Westbank Projects Corp., which works regularly with Steeves’ organization. “[Steeves] is good at coming into your team and working as part of your team. … He’s a great asset to Vancouver.”
Steeves traces his own skills to his upbringing in New Brunswick. Born in 1954, he worked in his parents’ pharmacy from the age of 12 and saw how they treated people.
“My father was superb with people, so I learned a lot from him, and from my mother,” he said.
School – or, at least, sciences – also came easily for him. He quickly worked his way through high school to study engineering at the University of New Brunswick, graduating from the five-year program in 1975.
Work took him first to Wisconsin, then Toronto. Edmonton followed, and he liked skiing enough to buy one chalet, then another, in Banff.
With the downturn of the early 1980s, he hitchhiked to Vancouver and tended bar for six months. The chalets sold at a significant loss a couple of years later, but by then he’d been recruited by MCW Consultants Ltd. to work on projects planned for Expo 86.
“We were largely insulated from the terrible recession from 1982 to ’85,” he said.
His first job was Canada Place, followed by 885 West Georgia Street, the expansion of Oakridge Centre and the BC Systems Corp. building in Victoria.
In 1987, he and his wife, Deborah, whom he met on a ferry during his stint working on the BC Systems Corp. building, moved to Australia. The two enjoy spending time with each other, whether relaxing on their boat, cycling or reading.
The time in Australia was formative for them personally as well as professionally. The couple started a family there, and Steeves – who began working for NDY – formed connections that continued after the couple’s return to Canada (with two kids) in 1992. A third child followed, and in 1996 Steeves joined Sterling Cooper.
The firm grew during Steeves’ tenure from 12 to 35 people before the head count dropped during the recession, when most of the staff found work with other firms. When business picked up, most came back (including his son, William, a vice-president at the time of the merger with NDY).
The loyalty pleases Steeves, who is proud of the talent he sees in the next generation of engineers.
“They’re better, smarter, faster in every way than me. The only thing I have on them is more experience,” he said.
But the millennial generation is willing to learn, he said, and eager to create opportunities for themselves.
“Millennials are looking for ‘How do we train? How am I going to get ahead?’” he said. “When I got out of school I was worried about that year, and that was it. Training? You didn’t even think about it. There were lots of jobs, lots of opportunities; [but] there are still lots of opportunities today.”
