Disruption was the word for 2021. We lived another year of unpredictability, which still informs how we all work and live.
While many of us expected 2021 to get us out of COVID, we can see that it’s not leaving any time soon. Now we’ve moved on to the Omicron variant and I know most of us wish that was just the name of a new Transformer. We should all realize the variants will continue to mutate as long as people across the world are not protected with vaccines.
Even though the year was unpredictable, it did not mean SINGH wasn’t busy. We were busy accomplishing so many essential tasks that will propel us into the growth we seek as a firm. The key to our future success will be the ongoing strategic goals we are implementing from our recent strategic planning session in June. SINGH’s executives met to go over a company-wide survey of items the team felt would improve our processes and deliverables. We are well on our way to implementing many new things including a Mentor Program for our engineers and staff. The process will continue – we learned that strategic planning is not a one-time effort. It’s a living, breathing constant.
We continued to push toward growth with our significant efforts to win challenging and exciting projects. Our team put out more than 400 unique proposals for prime and subconsultant work. That’s a lot of proposals! But we are committed to winning and that means we must put our ruler on the table. (…no, that doesn’t sound as good as our hat in the ring!) These efforts gained us some amazing new clients and prime wins. These include:
- City of Chicago DOT 79th Street Streetscape – 1st Transportation Design Prime with CDOT
- Ohio DOT Lighting Optimization – 1st Prime with ODOT
- Capital Development Board Kennedy King Fire Alarm – 1st MEP Prime with CDB
- DuPage County Traffic Signal Design Engineering – 1st Prime with DuPage DOT
- Wisconsin DOT Frontage Roads – 1st Transportation Design Prime with WisDOT
These wins would not have been possible without our strategic partners who teamed with us. SINGH appreciated the collaborative effort of our talented teams and department leaders. More importantly, these wins come because our clients value the work of our engineers. They know SINGH will do what is necessary to make sure the work is done right the first time. And if it’s not, we will put in the effort to make things right.
The year got even brighter as the realization of a Federal Infrastructure bill became reality. SINGH has been waiting for this push and has built our capacity within our three design departments for it. We are ready for what the future holds.
As I reflect, one thing is sure, we will continue to live with the unpredictability thrown upon us by a Global Pandemic. But it has not all been negative. It has required all of us to look inward – to rediscover what we value and force changes that are good.
At SINGH, we pivoted. We made sure all our family understood that their health and their happiness mattered to us. We now have a hybrid work schedule with a clear understanding that we must be responsible and not come to the office if we are not well.
We’ve spent the last two years focusing on gratitude. Thankful Tuesday messages are part of our culture. But more importantly, we learned how essential it is to be kind to ourselves and others. This time of disruption and uncertainty has challenged us all in different ways, but let’s make sure to step back, take a breath, and realize we will persevere.
As I say with every message: let’s move forward with boundless optimism. There is so much more to do, create, and experience in this wonderful journey we all share.