As its Community Engagement division continues to grow, Professional Engineering Consultants, PA (PEC) has appointed Chad Hayes, PE as VP of Community Engagement in Fort Collins. Hayes has a definite idea as to what his top priorities are when he steps into his role on November 1, 2023.

“One of my main priorities is to get with the other PEC market sector VPs and start planning. We have a lot of great relationships we have built in Fort Collins, and that’s been great, but I think there’s a lot of untapped potential out there. I want to start planning how we can leverage what we’re really good at and start to grow our footprint throughout Northern Colorado and beyond.”

Senior VP of Community Engagement Mike Lally is looking forward to having someone on the ground in Fort Collins. “Chad’s a very talented young man, and he’ll do really well in this job.”

With 18 years of engineering experience, Hayes brings a different perspective to this new role.

Lally continued, “Chad can approach and engage people who have a more technical background. Being an engineer and doing growth related work gives you an edge. You bring a different type of credibility.”

Understanding the full scope of projects and how PEC can contribute to them from an engineer’s point of view is a great benefit to Hayes.

“My past engineering experience will help because I understand the types of projects we work on, what our capabilities are, and the experiences we have across our multiple divisions. It gives me the ability to talk knowledgeably to clients and owners about what we’ve done in the past and how we can help them now.”

Energizing communities is at the center of PEC’s 2032 Strategic Plan. Community Engagement is pivotal to that effort as each location is different with a unique culture. “I’ve described Community Engagement as being a purposeful blend between business development, growth, and community involvement. I feel good about the individuals we have in Fort Collins and Oklahoma City. They have knowledge of those markets and will be able to identify opportunities and spend time there in a consistent fashion,” Lally shared.

When asked about what he looks forward to most in his new role, Hayes immediately mentioned relationships. “That’s been the number one thing that’s really helped the Fort Collins office grow. I look forward to concentrating on those relationships and building new ones. The intertangled web that is the AE community is very interesting to me and how we all help each other. You know, it doesn’t ever really feel competitive. It feels like we all have the same focus of making our community better.”