What is a leader?

On August 1st, 2006, Barry Brown, PE, was officially made a new partner of CEI and John Akin, PE, a new partner of Tristar. These individuals bring leadership qualities that make CEI and Tristar more successful businesses. They’ve had outstanding accomplishments including having brought major projects to each company and continue to do so.

What is a leader? A leader is committed to the mission and values of the company. They support and enhance the culture and the goals of the company. Overall, these individuals act like an owner. They are insightful, a lifelong learner, have the courage to take risks, learn from mistakes, have perseverance, high energy, a sense of obligation, integrity and are influential. In addition, they need to model a commitment to excellence, embrace changes for improvement, seize opportunities, mentor and coach others and accept responsibility for actions and outcomes.

Barry and John's strong engineering, leadership and management skills have enhanced the services that CEI and Tristar provide, which is why they were asked to take on these partnerships.

Barry Brown, PE, joined CEI in 1997 as an engineer managing Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT design projects as a CEI supplemental employee). While in this capacity, he was integral in overseeing design consultants while working on District Minor Discretionary Projects and the Statewide Traffic Improvement Program. After two years, CEI had established itself in the construction administration industry and had a workload for Barry to manage. Over the past seven years, he has managed CEI’s major full-service construction administration projects in the Valley and State. He has managed and supervised the construction administration of bridge, freeway, roadway and utility projects equating to millions of dollars. Barry has successfully managed projects for ADOT, the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), the Cities of Peoria, Glendale and Douglas, the Town of Gilbert and Del Webb (Pulte Home Corporation). He was instrumental in CEI being awarded the $15 million Ellsworth Road project for MCDOT.

John Akin, PE, joined Tristar in 2004 to oversee the construction management operations of the company as a Senior Resident Engineer. Since joining the firm, Tristar’s workload and staff has more than doubled. Over the past two years, John has managed all of Tristar’s construction management projects throughout the State. Some of the larger contracts he has managed include the on-call contract with ADOT providing temporary technical construction services, on-call field inspections for the City of Phoenix’s Development Services Department, the Town of Gilbert’s Greenfield and Warner Road Intersection Improvements and several emergency projects for ADOT. Most recently, John was crucial to Tristar's selection of MCDOT's $42 million Cotton Lane Bridge project to provide construction administration and inspection services.

Please join us in welcoming them both as new business partners!

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