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Culture

#Eweek2023 Spotlight | Adam Schlegel

Melding civil and land development. For National Engineers Week 2023, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What is your area of expertise and why did you choose it? My area of expertise within the expansive civil engineering discipline is land development. It took me several years of dabbling in other engineering fields, such as structural and environme...
CultureNews

#Eweek2023 Spotlight | Zoe Smith

Always calculating the best moves. For National Engineers Week 2023, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  Who or what inspired you to be an engineer? My uncle was a civil engineer for the Anaconda Company in the mid-1970s. He was credited with developing environmental measures to clean up the Silver Bow Creek between Butte and Anaconda, Montana. I remem...
CultureNews

#Eweek2023 Spotlight | Gerry Nichols-Pagel

Engineering the air we breathe. For National Engineers Week 2023, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  Who or what inspired you to be an engineer? I was always drawn to disassembling and understanding how things work. Broken appliances, tools, and toys were typically dismantled and reassembled. They were, usually, functional after the fact. ...
CultureNews

#Eweek2023 Spotlight | Shane Gerkin

Living out the ethos of constant curiosity. For National Engineers Week 2023, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  Who or what inspired you to be an engineer? The ability to create and build things is what drew me to engineering. Learning the skills to create something from nothing was quite powerful. Engineering is much more than just math or science....
CultureNews

#Eweek2023 Spotlight | Julia Kaminski

Community-minded, sustainability-focused. For National Engineers Week 2023, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  Who or what inspired you to be an engineer? When I was a kid, I read each month's issue of National Geographic cover-to-cover. My favorite stories were about the people who developed an innovative solution to a challenge their community was f...
CultureNews

#Eweek2023 Spotlight | Brandon Besser

Engineering to great heights. For National Engineers Week 2023, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick, and to help inspire the next generation of engineers! Who or what inspired you to be an engineer? I wish I could say I have a good story of how I became an engineer, but it really just happened because I didn’t know what I wanted to do in college. I was g...
CultureNews

Chris Goslin, Refrigeration Engineering Director, Honored with 2022 ICS Award

Chris Goslin may be a director of Cushing Terrell’s Refrigeration Engineering team, but there's not a cold shoulder in sight when it comes to his relationships with team members, partners, and clients. As the 2022 recipient of the firm’s Integrity and Client Service (ICS) Award, Chris has demonstrated the utmost care for his clients and their projects. The phrase consistently associated with Chris is "going above and beyond," and he demonstrates this in all ways, from mentoring team mem...
CultureExpertiseNews

Pro Bono Design Services: Our First Inaugural Update!

As 2022 comes to a close, we’re celebrating all the many little influences our team members have had across our industry and in our communities.   Cushing Terrell is committed to community engagement and social action. As we see it, “social action” is a designation characterized by movement. It encompasses a wide array of needs and aspirations and includes our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative, a commitment to sustainable design, pro bono work, and service within the com...
CultureNews

Behind the Design: Tracy Baker, Architect and Boise Healthcare Studio Lead

Pull back the curtain and get to know the people behind the design. The solutions we develop for clients and communities are brought to you by passionate individuals devoted to delivering better built environments — places that support healthy, productive, sustainable ways of living. Our next #PeoplePassions blog post features Tracy Baker, an architect, healthcare studio lead, mentor, team-bonding enthusiast, proponent of alternative transportation, cyclist, and fan of the pub crawl. ...
CultureHealthcareNews

Design Forum Pulls in Designers Firmwide for Festival of Sketching, Discussion, and Bonding

September saw Cushing Terrell's Design Forum resurrected as team members from various disciplines and locations met in Boise, Idaho, to sharpen design skills, make friends, and rejuvenate the soul. Design leaders Joel Anderson and Bryan Hallowell — who planned and moderated the two-day event — took time to debrief afterward by answering a few questions about the experience. What, exactly, is a Design Forum? Joel Anderson: We have so much to share as designe...
CultureExpertise

How Adaptive Reuse Inspired Cushing Terrell’s New Downtown Seattle Office

Multidisciplinary design firm occupies 9,000 sq. ft. office space in Seattle’s Waterfront District.  Relocating from Lower Queen Anne, the Cushing Terrell Seattle team joins other businesses committed to reoccupying and revitalizing Seattle’s downtown. Needing to accommodate a growing staff and adapt to a shift in workplace expectations, the team, led by Associate Principal Chris Aageson recently moved into the seventh floor of the Agen Warehouse building — listed on the ...
CommercialCultureExpertise

Cushing Terrell Named a Best Firm to Work For by Zweig Group

We made the list! We’re thrilled to be named a 2022 Best Firm to Work For by Zweig Group. This honor reflects the input of our team members and their daily contributions to create an amazing work environment. It feels great to be recognized and to know our people feel valued, empowered, and directly responsible for our firm’s success. President and CEO Greg Matthews “I’m incredibly proud of our team and thankful for each person’s efforts t...
CultureNews

IWD 2022: The Diverse Perspectives and Unique Influence Moms Have on Design

At Cushing Terrell, we value the diverse perspectives our team members bring to our design work and our firm as a whole. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the contributions of working moms. With the disruption caused by the pandemic on the normal routine of our lives, working moms often found themselves responsible for balancing both work from home and school/daycare from home. As we (hopefully) come out of the pandemic, it's crucial that we use the lessons learned from this time t...
Culture

#Eweek2022 Spotlight | Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood

Dual-discipline adventure-seeker For National Engineers Week 2022, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  Who (or what) inspired you to become an engineer? Like many people, I originally didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was good at math and enjoyed drawing and being creative. It wasn’t until high school that I began to be inspired by building design wit...
Culture

#Eweek2022 Spotlight | Cole Moller

Embodied carbon crusader For National Engineers Week 2022, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  Who (or what) inspired you to become an engineer? In high school, a math teacher suggested architecture as a field of study she thought would be a good fit for me. I knew nothing about architecture at the time, so I spent time looking into the profession and ...
Culture

#Eweek2022 Spotlight | Rick DeMarinis

Engineering for an energy-efficient future For National Engineers Week 2022, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  Who (or what) inspired you to become an engineer? I didn’t know anything in particular about engineering in high school but felt that my strengths were related to the sciences. When I looked at college opportunities in my state, Montana Tech...
Culture

In the News: Cushing Terrell Announces Pro Bono Program for Social Action

Cushing Terrell’s newly established pro bono program supports its nationwide DEI efforts and creates coordinated opportunities for charitable giving. Multidisciplinary design firm Cushing Terrell has formally outlined a plan to expand upon and diversify its annual donated services. The firmwide pro bono program — encompassing all thirteen offices — is part of a larger effort by the practice to better define its commitment to social action. In addition to providing pro bon...
CultureNews

Behind the Design: Rebecca Muchow, Architect in Minneapolis

Pull back the curtain and get to know the people behind the design. The solutions we develop for clients and communities are brought to you by passionate individuals devoted to delivering better built environments — places that support healthy, productive, sustainable ways of living. The first of our #PeoplePassions series features Rebecca Muchow, an architect, mom, runner, equitable design advocate, and proponent of the three "Hs." What is your personal design philosoph...
Culture

A Communications Wizard Who ‘Inspires Everyone Around Her,’ Marni Moore Bestowed with 2021 ICS Award

The Integrity and Client Service (ICS) Award is the highest annual honor bestowed upon a Cushing Terrell team member. Nicknamed “The Geno” after 55-year-tenured Gene Kolstad, the award is presented in December with a cash prize. Colleagues are nominated from across the firm, and the winner is judged on their excellence in three categories: honesty, compassion, and responsiveness. Do pay attention to that woman behind the curtain. She's Marni Moore, Cushing Terrell’s con...
Culture

The Power of Public Art: Enhancing the Places We Call Home

A natural offshoot of our team's architecture, engineering, graphic design, and landscape architecture talents, contributing to public art projects is one of the ways we stretch our creative muscles. The most recent example is a concept created for the Carpio Sanguinette Park design competition.  Incorporating art into our public spaces has incredible benefits — for individuals, communities, and local economies. Art draws us out. It inspires questions, dialogue, contempla...
CultureExpertise

IWD 2021: Meeting the Challenge to Influence Positive Change

The accomplishments, leadership, and contributions of women to society, business, industry, government, the non-profit world — and so much more — are top of mind as we celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (IWD). Celebrations like these help us keep in mind the need to continue our collective work toward gender equity in the workplace and beyond. In line with this year's IWD theme, #ChooseToChallenge, we've marked the occasion by asking some of our newest associa...
Culture

#Eweek2021 Spotlight | Michael White

Engineering inclusive infrastructure For National Engineers Week 2021, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? As a kid, there was usually a sprawling Lego city on my bedroom floor. As I got older, I really enjoyed studying physics and earth sciences. After a couple detours in other fields, engineering caught hold of me and didn’t...
Culture

#Eweek2021 Spotlight | Puru Shah

Engineering for resilience For National Engineers Week 2021, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? Everyone in my family has had their own business. As a kid, I helped my dad manage his hardware business and learned a lot about construction, paint, plumbing systems, and metals. This piqued my interest in design, but I wasn't as ...
Culture

#Eweek2021 Spotlight | Raelynn Meissner

Putting the green in engineering For National Engineers Week 2021, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? My dad! He's a petroleum engineer. Plus, I was a natural at science and math in school. Originally, I had planned to pursue a degree in architecture because I've always loved buildings and how they are designed and built. My ...
Culture

Putting Out Fires and Taking on Tough Jobs, Nathan Helfrich is Honored with 2020 Integrity and Client Service Award

The Integrity and Client Service (ICS) Award is the highest annual honor bestowed upon a Cushing Terrell team member. Nicknamed “The Geno” after 54-year-tenured Gene Kolstad, the award is presented in December with a cash prize. Colleagues are nominated from across the firm, and the winner is judged on their excellence in three categories: honesty, compassion, and responsiveness. Our 2020 ICS Award recipient is Nathan Helfrich. A project architect and associate in Bozeman, Montana, he's...
Culture

Audio Interview: Architect Tony Houtz Discusses Today’s Distribution Center with Industry Veteran Dave Irvin

A near-universal truth for designers: the best way to learn about the needs of a unique type of space is by speaking with the people who use it. It's something we do at Cushing Terrell for every new project. For the sake of catching up on current events and learning how COVID-19 has affected distribution, I spoke with Dave Irvin, General Manager of Eagle Beverage, a veteran Montana beer distributor and long-time acquaintance. We covered topics spanning current market conditions, scaling...
CommercialCultureExpertise

Diversity, Technology, and Knowledge: Adapting to Change in the A/E Industry

Chief Knowledge Officer Jim Armer There's never been a time when our firm's ability to adapt, and our team's resiliency, have been so greatly tested. We’ve survived downturns in the economy and responded to local and national crises, but the shift we’re undergoing now — as a global society in response to the current pandemic — is something that could fundamentally change how we all live and work, for the long-term. As our industry comes together to partn...
CultureExpertise

#EarthDay2020: Let’s get moving (literally!) and centralize our waste

Interior Designer Kaare Sola Two years ago, Cushing Terrell in Seattle staged a trial run to evaluate the feasibility of moving to a centralized waste system. What exactly does this entail? A centralized waste collection model is when waste (including recycling, landfill, and compost) is limited to one or two collection points within a space. People who use the space must take their waste to the designated collection area, where it is sorted and removed....
Culture

How we’re responding to COVID-19

President Greg Matthews As the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation intensifies, so too does our focus on serving our clients. In the interest of keeping our teams working together in the safest, healthiest environments possible, we’re prioritizing self-care and remote work, but we’re here, moving your projects forward as planned. As a dispersed team, we’re accustomed to working virtually and in different locations. Our technology stack, implemented years a...
Culture

Challenge accepted! Greening our Cushing Terrell materials libraries

Senior Interior Designer Kaare Sola The backstory... As a senior interior designer with Cushing Terrell and someone who’s passionate about making eco-conscious choices when it comes to our work, I was struck by an "aha" moment during a Greenbuild seminar two years ago. While soaking up a presentation from mindful MATERIALS (mM), I was inspired to make a difference at our firm. The mM database is a free, online resource that helps people make informed dec...
Culture

Honored to Be at the Helm of Our Great Team

Twenty-four years ago, I walked into Cushing Terrell for my first day on the job as an AIT (architect in training). I specifically remember hearing about the client-first mentality that, at the time, had defined the firm for almost 60 years. Today officially marks another “first day” on the job for me — as president of our firm. Now, I assume the responsibility of not only living out these core principles that made such an impression on me, but truly driving them forward, making compass...
Culture

#Eweek2020 Spotlight | Hollie Mellgren

Enjoys the journey, and the finish line For National Engineers Week 2020, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? This may be a recurring theme with engineers, but my inspiration came from an interest in math, particularly calculus (yes, it's true). Finding myself understanding math, with the help of an amazing teacher, was a grea...
Culture

#Eweek2020 Spotlight | Chelsea Billingsley

Just add water For National Engineers Week 2020, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? My older brother, Tyler, inspired me to become an engineer. Going into college, I didn’t have a clear direction of what I wanted to do, and I remember thinking his career path seemed both cool and challenging. He's also a water/wastewater engi...
CultureInfrastructure

#Eweek2020 Spotlight | Tim Johnson

Data-driven and service-oriented For National Engineers Week 2020, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? My dad’s career as a physicist took us to Los Alamos, New Mexico, a town based around the national laboratory there, with all sorts of cutting-edge research and development going on. My dad’s passion for science and a few int...
Culture

#Eweek2020 Spotlight | Zack Graham

Civil in spirit and in practice For National Engineers Week 2020, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? I went to college and started studying mechanical engineering for no other reason than I had a natural bent toward math and physics. After my sophomore year, rather than finding an internship (as my parents suggested), I spent...
CultureInfrastructure

#Eweek2020 Spotlight | Omar Chavez

Multi-faceted adventure seeker For National Engineers Week 2020, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? I'm a person who looks for the logic in how things work. I've always been good at math, and I've enjoyed working with my hands ever since I was a kid. These interests all led me to pursue a bachelor's degree in mechanical engin...
Culture

#Eweek2020 Spotlight | Allyn Jorgensen

STEM champion extraordinaire For National Engineers Week 2020, we’re sharing stories from Cushing Terrell’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? In high school, my mom took me to a seminar where a few women spoke about their engineering careers. I wasn’t exactly sure about a career at that time, but I liked math, physics, and taking things apart. What struck me was how en...
Culture

‘Absolutely Alan’ Anseth honored with 2019 Integrity and Client Service Award

The Integrity and Client Service (ICS) Award is the highest annual honor bestowed upon a Cushing Terrell team member. Nicknamed "The Geno" after 54-year-tenured Gene Kolstad, the award is presented each December with a cash prize. Colleagues are nominated from across the firm, and the winner is judged on their excellence in three categories: honesty, compassion, and responsiveness. Our 2019 honoree is Alan Anseth, an associate owner and project manager from Billings, Montana, with the f...
Culture

AIA Women’s Leadership Summit: Strengthening the Community of Women Architects

Last September, as a fairly new employee with Cushing Terrell, I had my first opportunity to travel for work. Part of our communications team, I met up with architects from four of our offices — Billings, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Seattle — to attend the AIA 2019 Women's Leadership Summit (WLS) held in the lovely city of Minneapolis. My first WLS, it was amazing to be there with team members, plus 750 other attendees! Described as the largest gathering of women architects in one roo...
Culture

Evolution that takes you back to your roots

Scott Wilson, President The handshake between Ralph Cushing and Everett Terrell launched our firm 81 years ago and marked the beginning of a unique approach to doing business in the world of design. We’re celebrating that handshake with a name change that takes us back to those founding moments while preparing us for the next chapter: CTA Architects Engineers is now Cushing Terrell. Since Ralph and Everett founded this design practice, the company has gr...
Culture

Cushing Terrell in Boise: Invested in Community, Each Other, and Fun

Hailing from diverse offices across the United States — from the mountain region to major metros — our teams showcase the very best in multi-disciplinary collaboration. Whether the expertise comes from one location or multiple, we work with our clients to design responsible, imaginative, first-of-their-kind environments. For a little local flair, we’re highlighting our office teams, showcasing their capabilities and culture. It was 1966. Twenty-seven years after our firm opened its firs...
Culture

New program invites young designers to interrogate experts — up first, David Salmela

Design Principal David Koel, an architect for 26 years, is a curious guy. He channels his hunger for knowledge into learning opportunities — from reading to investigation to simply asking a zillion questions of people who know things he doesn't. (This especially comes out in his many discussions with clients.) But Koel doesn't learn in a vacuum — and he thinks asking questions should not only be encouraged but given center stage at a design- and knowledge-centric place like Cushing Terr...
Culture

Cushing Terrell in Denver: These unicorns are for real

Hailing from diverse offices across the United States — from the mountain region to major metros — our teams showcase the very best in multi-disciplinary collaboration. Whether the expertise comes from one location or multiple, we work with our clients to design responsible, imaginative, first-of-their-kind environments. For a little local flair, we’re highlighting our office teams, showcasing their capabilities and culture. Our Denver office is a story of the underdog: an experimental...
Culture

Cushing Terrell in Austin: ATX-tremely connected

Hailing from diverse offices across the United States — from the mountain region to major metros — our teams showcase the very best in multi-disciplinary collaboration. Whether the expertise comes from one location or multiple, we work with our clients to design responsible, imaginative, first-of-their-kind environments. For a little local flair, we’re highlighting our office teams, showcasing their capabilities and culture. Our Austin office was established in 2004 as a locally grown ...
Culture

Cushing Terrell in Minneapolis: “You betcha”-backed design

Hailing from diverse offices across the Unites States — from the mountain region to major metros — our teams showcase the very best in multi-disciplinary collaboration. Whether the expertise comes from one location or multiple, we work with our clients to design responsible, imaginative, first-of-their-kind environments. For a little local flair, we’re highlighting our office teams, showcasing their capabilities and culture. When we think of the Midwest character, we often think of peo...
Culture

Building culture from the inside out

Creating a strong, inclusive workplace culture is not only a great way to recruit and retain talented team members, it’s also fundamental to the overall health of an organization. As employees, we want to have a sense of belonging and of purpose, knowing that our unique contributions matter and are appreciated. To help build this culture and make CTA’s onboarding process more robust (and fun), we launched the CTA Culture Ambassador program. For each of our larger offices, we’ve identifi...
Culture

Congratulations to Our Newest Associates!

We recently named 11 team members as associates, recognizing their contributions to CTA, our projects, and our communities. These individuals are explorers and innovators, driving our business forward by supporting our culture, building successful teams, and focusing on continuous improvement. They demonstrate leadership while advocating for and recognizing others. They're active with both professional and charitable organizations, and treat all within their sphere with the utmost respe...
CultureExpertiseNews

Design-thinking crash course as an AIA awards judge

Imagine diving into a review of 304 design projects, spending 280 hours dedicated to thinking about design and what makes a good design project, and finally, voting for your top choice. If that sounds intense, it was. However, it was also an incredibly collaborative and illuminating experience. This is what it takes to be a juror for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2019 awards program. Homework I began reviewing submissions on August 17, and I kept up a pace of nine each day ...
CultureExpertise

#Eweek2019 Spotlight | Tyler Victorino

Engineering positive change in places near and far For National Engineers Week 2019, we’re sharing stories from some of CTA’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? I’ve always been drawn to math and science. At about age nine, I started professing my desire to be an engineer when I grew up. Upon being granted the freedom of four wheels, I developed an affinity for car audi...
Culture

#Eweek2019 Spotlight | Amairani Fruechte

The more calculations, the better For National Engineers Week 2019, we’re sharing stories from some of CTA’s engineering talent to learn more about how they chose their profession and what makes them tick.  What inspired you to become an engineer? I didn’t know about engineering until my aunt described her friend’s successful career as a computer engineer. I was intrigued and realized the common characteristic among engineering professions is math, which happens to be my ...
Culture
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