Over the last few years, as part of our Strategic Growth initiatives as a firm, we introduced four Market Sector Leads. These leads are responsible for coordinating marketing and business development efforts, keeping colleagues and clients up to date on innovative technologies and smart solutions, and understanding which conferences and tradeshows would provide the best opportunities for relationships for their specific sectors. We implemented these sectors to market Pennoni’s capabilities to our clients and position us as thought leaders for new clients and projects. 
Design Visualization was our first market sector, though we didn’t refer to it as such when it was initially developed. Joe Spadea, in our Newark, DE office built the team and PFX Studios from the ground up, initially with the help of Steve Lewis from the West Chester, PA office. Pennoni FX Studios (PFX) visualizations and videos are created and based on engineered data to convey ideas clearly and effectively – not only to the public, but also to our clients and design team partners. Our visualizations differ from others as we add context to the project by basing them on actual topography or drone footage, Nearmap, and other visual aids to align the project with the geography. Since then he has added other core team members. PFX Studios has been extensively marketed internally and externally which has helped the team innovate, evolve, and remain competitive. In addition to a variety of projects, the group allows time for incubating new ideas and technology such as Pennoni Photo360. Contact Joe Spadea at jspadea@pennoni.com for more information on how Design Visualization can enhance your projects.
Rich Butala, from our Winter Haven, FL office, leads our Resiliency/Sustainability efforts, focusing on sustainability, resiliency, and climate change initiatives. Our projects have a long history of supporting the social and economic needs of the communities we serve, while designing with sustainable and resilient practices in mind. This can be seen through our multidisciplinary approach in a multitude of markets and services. This newly created group created a program highlighting Pennoni’s sustainability/resiliency efforts as a response to clients asking for sustainability experience within RFPs. We are finding that many of our clients are looking to “harden” their facilities and infrastructure against climate change and are looking to make them resilient to avoid lost time in the event of power loss, rising sea levels, and other climatic changes. Contact Rich Butala at rbutala@pennoni.com for more information on how our sustainability efforts can be applied to your projects.
Tom Frederick, in our Hampton Roads, VA office, leads our Water/Wastewater sector, which includes marketing the firm’s engineering services to clients within the drinking water and wastewater industry, including reuse water and water resources. The public demand for a clean, safe, and dependable water supply; for environmentally effective, sustainable, and cost-effective treatment of wastewater; and for effective and accountable water utility management has generated a need for safe and innovative engineering for water/wastewater solutions. This has long been a part of Pennoni’s services, often as a part of our municipal engineer appointments. This group has utilized communication strategies within the firm to coordinate throughout our geographic footprint and provide specialized services to our clients within this sector. Contact Tom Frederick at tfrederick@pennoni.com to learn more about our water/wastewater services.
Last year we introduced Todd Stager, from our Mechanicsburg, PA office as the Higher Education (HED) market sector lead. Our experience with numerous Colleges and Universities throughout the country provides Pennoni with the insight necessary to meet the needs and address the issues faced by these institutions. There must be constant upgrades to existing facilities as well as the development of new ones, while remaining sensitive to the fact that students and surrounding communities are demanding that these developments are environmentally sustainable. This sector historically has a strong presence throughout the firm, and Todd is now responsible for corralling these efforts. The group’s strategy is improving every month and getting the HED team organized has increased awareness of what work and services are being provided by various offices to better the services provided to our clients. As a firm we have 165 universities and colleges in our database covering all of our geographic markets. Contact Todd Stager at tstager@pennoni.com to learn more about our Higher Education experience.
With the success of these four market sectors, we are looking at what sector to focus on next to add additional benefits to our clients.