Author: Jessica Fasi

Field Feature: Costco, Mt. Juliet, TN

Continuing our longstanding partnership with Costco, BL Companies is proud to feature our latest venture in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, which broke ground in October 2023. Spanning approximately 160,000 square feet for the main retail section, alongside an additional +/- 35,000 square feet for the attached ‘MDO’ facilitating in-house delivery services, this facility includes a 12-pump, 24-dispenser Members Only fuel station. With a comprehensive suite of services encompassing conceptual planning, land use permitting, construction documents, surveying, and environmental permitting assistance, this newest Costco location in Mt. Juliet, TN, is scheduled to open in June 2024.

Celebrating Women’s History Month and the Women of BL

Collage of BL's women employee owners

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, let’s take a moment to honor the invaluable contributions of our female employee owners. Their dedication, expertise, and leadership have enriched our company and continue to inspire. We are proud to recognize and celebrate the remarkable impact of these exceptional women. Thank you for your outstanding contributions! We’d also like to remember a few of the many influential women whose contributions have bettered our communities, industry, and country as a whole. Read more below to learn about Norma Sklarek, Nora Stanton Barney, and Emily Warren Roebling – all pioneering women in the A/E/C industry.

We often forget about the significant barriers women have had to overcome so today let’s remember a few, starting with Norma Sklarek.  Norma has been called the “Rosa Parks of Architecture” for her groundbreaking accomplishments and leadership.  She was the first African American woman to pass her license exam to become an architect in New York and California.  She is the daughter of immigrants from Trinidad, grew up in Harlem and Brooklyn and graduated from the School of Architecture at Columbia University in 1950.  She was rejected from 19 firms after graduating before finally being hired by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.  Like many female architects in corporate firms, Norma served as a project manager rather than a design architect for most of her career although she had the technical skills and knowledge to do so.  She persevered and went on to become the first Black woman to co-own an architectural firm, Siegel Sklarek Diamond, and the first Black woman to be elected as a Fellow of the AIA.  She is most noted for designing the United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan in 1976 and the Terminal One Station at the Los Angeles International Airport in 1984. 

Nora Stanton Barney was the first woman to receive a civil engineering degree from Cornell University in 1905 and in the same year was elected as the first female junior member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).  After graduating from Cornell, she worked for the New York City Board of Water supply, took classes at Columbia, and worked for her husband, Lee De Forest’s, company.  The two then separated and Nora moved back to NYC to work as an assistant engineer and chief draftsman at the Radley Steel Construction Company.  She later began working part-time as an architect and developer on Long Island.  She gained notoriety when her age surpassed the “junior” status age and she applied for an upgrade to associate member of ASCE.  Her request was denied, and she filed a lawsuit against them that she eventually lost.  In 1919, she married a marine architect, Morgan Barney and in 1923 they moved to Connecticut and Nora became a real estate developer.

One of the most iconic engineering projects in America’s history is the Brooklyn Bridge.  Washington Roebling was the Chief Engineer for the project but when he became seriously sick in 1872, his wife Emily Warren Roebling started taking notes of what needed to be done to complete the project.  When her husband passed, she stepped in to begin overseeing the day-to-day supervision and management of the project.  Emily learned about strength of materials, strength analysis, cable construction and calculation of catenary curves.  It is said she was Chief Engineer in every way but name.  The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883 and a plaque that honors Emily and Washington hangs from it.

Ask an Owner // Mina Almengor

Mina Almengor
Mina Almengor // Director, Human Resources & Principal // Meriden, CT Office // Employee Owner since 1998

You’ve been at BL both before and after becoming 100% employee-owned. What changes have you noticed since we became employee-owned? Since becoming employee-owned, our employees have gained a voice, not just related to their technical work but in how we run our business. In any company, you want to make sure that employees feel welcomed and supported, but also heard. Becoming an ESOP definitely gave employees a voice and has been one of the biggest changes from my point of view.

Additionally, becoming an ESOP has had a positive impact on our culture, because we’re no longer working for a sole owner, but for ourselves, each other, and our future.

You’re involved with our leadership training program, can you share a little about what that is, how it came to be and the impact it makes? The Leadership Development Foundations Program (LDFP) was implemented in 2007, after we first became an ESOP in 2006, to tie our new ESOP to BL’s culture. All employees are encouraged to attend LDFP, regardless of their role at BL. Our leadership development is also designed to provide employee-owners with opportunities to increase their leadership skills and soft skills beyond their technical capabilities. Throughout the training, employee-owners also gain perspective on themselves through a self-assessment process, which helps them become more accurate in their evaluation of themselves.

LDFP provides all employees with a common language we can all use, and teaches us how to give and receive both critical and positive feedback so we can improve interactions and the environment at BL. It also gives folks an opportunity to meet people from other offices and disciplines, which helps build relationships throughout BL.

Overall, the LDFP training is for the employee-owner’s benefit, and it’s not related to their performance. LDFP isn’t graded, it’s designed to enhance our employee-owner’s skills so they can grow, become better professionals, and improve their relationship skills which benefits both our internal teammates as well as our external clients and business partners.

What’s your favorite part of your job? I love my job because I love connecting with all the employee-owners throughout the company. BL is unique in how many opportunities we have for our employees to grow as professionals, and getting to support our employee-owners throughout and help them be successful is one of my favorite parts of my job.

What do you like to do in your time outside of work? When I’m not at work, I love spending time outside in nature – hiking, walking, and exploring. I also love to travel and enjoy experiencing new cultures and traditions.

Congratulation New Principals for 2024

We’ve named 4 employee-owners to Principal

BL has some exciting news! We are thrilled to announce that we have recently promoted four new employee-owners to Principal. Our Principals are critical leaders at BL, and this new class of Principals is no different. Each one was selected because of their hard work, talent, and broad impact on BL’s success. 

The new Principals at BL Companies come from a variety of office locations and disciplines and include:

  • Douglas Campbell – Corporate, Meriden, CT
  • Dominick Celtruda, PLA, ASLA – Engineering, Hartford, CT
  • Amy Samuelson, AIA – Architecture, Meriden, CT
  • Jesse Vose, PE – Architecture, Meriden, CT

We are incredibly excited to welcome these talented individuals to the Principal Program and are excited to see how they continue to help BL thrive. The new class of individuals join the ranks of BL Companies’ 62 existing Principals who support BL Companies’ growth across all our key markets.

BL Wears Red for Heart Month

Since 1964, February has been recognized as American Heart Month and each year the first Friday of February has become National Wear Red Day to bring awareness to heart disease. According to The Estrogen Fix: The Breakthrough Guide to Being Healthy, Energized, and Hormonally Balanced, heart disease, not breast or any other cancer, is the number-one killer of women over age 65 and the second leading cause of death among women aged 45 to 64. Women account for 52 percent of the 80 million Americans who have heart disease and who die from heart disease and heart attacks. Reasons to go red:

  • Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death for women throughout the United States.
  • Cardiovascular diseases kill one out of every three women. This is eight times higher than breast cancer, but many women still do not recognize their risk.
  • More women die of heart disease than men.
  • Hispanic women are more prone to heart diseases than white women.
  • Looking physically fit does not completely eradicate the risk of heart disease.  The American Heart Association suggests all women get their cholesterol checked periodically right from their twenties.
  • On a positive note, just because there is a history of heart disease in your family does not mean you are destined. Yes, the risk is higher than the average woman, but these risks are manageable through diet, exercise, and stress relief.
  • The population of men and women affected by diseases related to the heart is on the rise.
  • Health is essential to happiness.

For over 10 years BL’s employee owners have dressed in red to support National Wear Red Day.  Our employee owners have a tradition of gathering in their respective offices to take a team photo or take individual photos from the field or home office. National Wear Red Day 2024 was no different! We had 94 employee owners who were photographed rocking their red attire. For a little added incentive, BL Companies made a donation to the American Heart Association for each person photographed wearing red. Thank you to our wonderful BL community for participating in this event!

Elements of Accessible Design

Imagine this: you have a degenerative eye condition that is causing you to become low vision. The good news is that there is a treatment that can help slow the progression of the vision loss, the bad news is you need to get shots in your eyes every four months at an eye center.

You arrive at the Eye Center for your first appointment and enter the building. The receptionist had told you which floor you needed to go to when you booked, which is good because the directory in the lobby is digital on a screen that you cannot read. You can see that there is an elevator to the floor you need to access, but you decide to wait around until someone else gets on the elevator because you know you won’t be able to see the floor buttons. Once inside the elevators, you attempt to count the floors as you go up, but it’s easy to lose track or miss one, and you get off on the wrong floor. The process begins again.

Unfortunately, experiences like this are all too common. As designers, we need to think about accessible design in the built environment as being more than meeting physical accessibility requirements (though they do play a big role in how accessible a space is). For a space to be truly accessible, designers must think about how users will interact with the space, the environmental factors that surround the space, and how to create places that can be used by all people regardless of their size, age, or ability.

Below are five elements designers should keep in mind when designing for accessibility:

  1. Engage the Community. Including people with disabilities in design activities such as charettes and walkthroughs is vital to ensure accessibility needs are being met effectively.  
  2. Physical Accessibility. Features such as wide doorways, ramps, accessible bathrooms with grab bars, and high toilet heights are just a few examples of design elements that make a project accessible for users with physical disabilities.
  3. Wayfinding & Sensory Considerations. The challenges presented in the story above are solvable with thoughtful wayfinding design that considers the needs of users navigating those spaces. Features that incorporate visual cues, auditory cues, and tactile cues help users of all abilities navigate spaces.  Considering lighting design and color contrast can also benefit all users.
  4. Myth-busting: There seems to be a myth that accessible design can’t be beautiful design. All one needs to do is look at De Hogeweyk, a “dementia village” in the Netherlands, to see how wrong that is. There are many strategies to integrating accessible features into aesthetically pleasing environments.
  5. Go Beyond the Standards. As designers, we can embrace incorporating accessibility into every project as a design challenge. By being creative and innovative with solutions, we can think about what is not just required but what is comfortable. The Kelsey, an organization focused on “pioneering disability-forward housing solutions that open doors to homes and opportunities for everyone,” has developed Inclusive Design Standards that overview accessibility elements beyond code. 

Ask an Owner // Joe Michiels

Why did you become an engineer? Both of my parents worked for home builders in construction, so I grew up on job sites. My whole life has been this industry, so being an engineer is something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember.

What is one of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on at BL and why? Over the years I’ve worked on multiple ADA curb ramp projects within the City of Philadelphia, including some iconic locations along Broad Street, including Broad St and Pattison Ave where the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers & Sixers stadiums are, multiple locations within UPENN, the Liberty Bell, and at City Hall. It was very cool to get to work on projects at locations with significant history and importance.

What do you like best about this industry/being an engineer? I’ve always loved seeing things I’ve designed get built and used, but it’s particularly gratifying getting to make a positive impact on the general public.

One of the reasons I got involved with the ADA Curb Ramp program is because it is so important for people with disabilities.  Each location requires thought and consideration given the existing condition to provide a design that meets the needs of the public, and provide access to the sidewalk and surrounding properties. 

My father was in a wheelchair for the last seven years of his life, and experiencing just how many hurdles people with disabilities must overcome was eye-opening. Getting to work on projects that improve the lives of people like him is one of the best parts of this type of work.

What do you like to do outside of work? I love spending time with my family, going to see live music, watching my oldest son’s ice hockey games, and being outside, hiking and camping.

How BL Made it PossiBLe: ADA Curb Ramps

BL Companies has become a leading firm performing ADA Curb Ramp design within the City of Philadelphia and PennDOT, working alongside contractors on numerous design/build projects to bring curb ramps up to the appropriate standards. What is ADA Compliance? ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance is the standard for providing accessible services to disabled individuals. As all ramps must adhere to a set of of design standards, it is up to municipalities, counties or DOT districts to ensure they’re compliant. That’s where BL’s expertise comes in!

BL performs an initial survey at each location of the proposed ramp, locating all physical features within the proposed disturbance area while utilizing the contractor’s survey control for continuity with the overall project, and prepare an existing conditions plan. The field survey crew locate existing curbs, utility structures, buildings, steps, and topography.  An existing conditions plan is then utilized by the design group to prepare a compliant ADA Curb Ramp design, making it possiBLe for individuals of all abilities to traverse the City, utilizing compliant curb ramps.

Field Feature: Harbor Brook Ribbon Cutting

The completed Harbor Brook Channel Improvements project was celebrated in November with a ribbon cutting with the City of Meriden in Connecticut. We are proud to partner with the City to contribute multi-disciplinary support services that will help fundamentally change the landscape of Meriden along Harbor Brook from Cooper Street, southward to just downstream of Coe Avenue.

This $12M+ project aims to eliminate nearly fifty properties from the floodplain with many more properties experiencing reduced flooding potential because of this work. In addition, a new bike-pedestrian path, plantings, and attractive open brook channel will bring the City one step closer to linking the City center to the South Meriden center in a meaningful and inviting way. This project is an example of BL Companies’ versatility in providing our client with engineering, environmental, and survey services to help see this project from design to completion of construction.

Ask an Owner // Julia O’Brien

Picture of Julia O'Brien

As Co-Vice President what are some specific goals you have for BL moving forward? One of the specific goals I have for BL is growth. We’ve done a great job over the past few years of expanding our reach across the country in terms of providing services to our clients. In parallel, we’ve expanded our office locations and the hiring of employees. We now want to really grow in the areas we’ve expanded into and where we see great potential. From client expansion, hiring of employees and brand awareness, our goal is to expand in Florida, North Carolina, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Warwick while, at the same time, continuing our growth in our more established offices and areas.  It’s all about positioning BL for the future and building on what we’ve already done.

What gets you most excited about the new year? I used to really dread January and February.  In the northeast, it’s dark in the morning and late afternoon and it’s cold! But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to love these two months as I take this time as a reset. We do several “Back to Basics” programs across the company in the new year. We focus on safety, quality assurance, hiring best practices, supervisor back to basics, and many of our different disciplines hold “Back to Basics” conversations and trainings. I always want to make sure our employee owners are clear on expectations and what’s being asked of them. I think the new year is always a good time to do that.

What trends are you seeing in the industry? Happily, we’re seeing more demand for our work and an uptick in clients wanting to move forward with projects. Whether that’s due to interest rates stabilizing and possibly starting to come down remains to be seen, but our backlog of work has increased, and we are busy – which is a great thing! Clients that we’ve worked for in certain areas of the country for years are now expanding into other areas and are coming to us to help them with their projects. That is exciting. We’ve seen an uptick in brownfield projects due to more money flowing to towns and counties from the federal government, and I see that work continuing to grow as public clients release requests for proposals and qualifications.

Where do you see an opportunity for clients in 2024? The opportunity for clients is limitless. Over the last decade, we’ve increased our photovoltaic work at a significant pace. The need for a multitude of services – environmental, structural, electrical, and civil engineering and survey on PV projects speaks to the full-service firm we are and what we can provide to our clients. This work is growing at a rapid rate and the number of clients we’re assisting has grown exponentially. I see that as only increasing in 2024.

Another opportunity is with the new focus on replacing aging systems, energy efficiency and improved air quality, schools now are investing in upgrades to their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Our mechanical engineers are doing a terrific job in assisting school districts with these projects. I see this market as continuing to grow for us in 2024 as well.

Do you have any personal 2024 bucket list items/or resolutions for yourself? On the work front, I want to continue to visit as many of our offices as possible and connect with employees face to face. I believe there is no substitute for sharing a meal with teammates or simply working in the office alongside them. Getting out and visiting all our offices each year is always my goal. Last year I made it to 8. This year I hope to do better! On the personal side, I want to continue to travel. With our three children scattered up and down the East Coast, my husband and I have the privilege of visiting them and some great cities. But we’re also looking at some farther-flung trips as the year progresses. I’ll let you know when they’re booked!