Pennoni’s Employee Spotlight series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the talented individuals who make our company thrive. Each month, we highlight a team member’s journey, their passion for engineering and innovation, and the unique impact they’re making at Pennoni.
This month, we’re featuring Louie Rodriguez, application developer in our Philadelphia office, and highlighting his unique skillset and the specialized service offerings he brings to clients, career growth at Pennoni and the culture of the firm.
Louie Rodriguez is an application developer at Pennoni, where he works as part of the Digital Labs Group. A 2020 graduate of Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in information science, Louie specializes in custom web application development, data analysis, and automation scripting. His work spans a wide range of impactful projects, from building ArcGIS Hub Sites and standalone websites for government and municipal clients to developing Python scripts that streamline data workflows, automate reporting, and integrate with various platforms.
You played a key role in developing PennDOT’s Focus on Innovations interactive publication. Can you tell us what went into building that project and what made it special from a development perspective?
The Focus on Innovations publication is PennDOT’s yearly recap site that highlights major projects and innovations across the department. From a development perspective, it’s a lot like building a digital news site, with a focus on organizing articles, visuals, and media into a clean, engaging layout. While the content is provided, I have creative freedom over the design and presentation, which makes the project especially rewarding. It’s also meaningful to me personally, having worked on this for several years, I’ve been able to see not just how the site has evolved, but how my own skills have grown alongside it.
Your work helps bring Pennoni’s technology services to life through custom applications and web tools. How would you describe the impact of these digital solutions on our clients and internal teams?
I think it simply gives the opportunity to make things easier and run faster and allows Pennoni to pursue ideas and projects they might not have been able to before. All of the work that went into the creation and automation of the Deltek Map is a good example of that idea, where we now have the ability to visualize and analyze all the work we do from a visual angle. This extends to other data scripting and automation work I’ve done for clients when it comes to pulling and mapping data from county parcel websites or organizing large quantities of files and folders with the push of a button.
You transitioned from Pennoni’s IT team to GIS & Technology Solutions. What motivated the switch, and how has it helped you grow professionally?
I really liked my work with John Freund and the IT team, but in the end, the GIS team represented the type of work I wanted to be doing long term (and where I felt I’d be most valuable to Pennoni), so I requested that I move over to the GIS team full time and it worked out! I learned over my first year or so here at Pennoni that what I really liked working on was projects that let me be a bit more hands-on with scripting and solving problems, especially finding better ways to visualize data. I also had a bit of background with web development going back to my time at Temple, so the transition gave me more opportunities to work on those types of projects.
How would you describe the culture at Pennoni? What makes it a great place to work and grow your career?
Pennoni has a great culture that really encourages connection and collaboration. From the softball team and golf outing to happy hours and other social events, there are so many opportunities to build relationships across teams. I’ve made a lot of friends here, and that sense of community makes work more enjoyable and teamwork more natural. Even the PennDOT Focus on Innovations project came about because of those internal connections. Colleagues initially thought we might need to contract the work out, until they realized we had the skillset in-house and I was able to step in and help out. That kind of recognition and trust in each other’s strengths really shows how Pennoni supports and empowers its people.
You’re a proud Temple Owl and a relatively recent grad—how has Pennoni supported your career growth and helped you turn your skills into real-world impact?
As a proud Temple Owl, I’m grateful that Pennoni supported my growth by allowing me to transition teams early on to better align with my skills and interests. That move had a huge impact on my development. I’ve gained valuable experience working on a wide range of projects, both client-facing and internal, across the IT and GIS teams. It’s helped shape me into a kind of tech Swiss army knife for the company, and I look forward to continuing to grow in this unique, versatile role.