Winner

Gresham, Smith and Partners

Franklin, Tennessee

Gresham, Smith and Partners was tasked by Nissan North America to relocate its operations in Gardena, Calif., to a new facility in Franklin, Tenn. Since Nissan chose to place current operations in temporary office space while the new facility was being designed and constructed, keeping the schedule for this new facility on track was a crucial component.

The firm realizes that employee retention is a cost-saving opportunity that will improve the company's overall success in projects such as this, so it strives to attract, retain, and mentor the best the workforce has to offer. Employees are provided avenues to acquire all necessary training, including CAD product training on a variety of Bentley solutions through the Bentley LEARN server and training subscription, which has reduced turnover as well as the costs of training new staff.

Finalist

Architecture+

Monroe, Louisiana

As the Monroe, La., economy has evolved from one of dependency on agriculture and wood/timber, the growth has resulted in the need for a higher skilled workforce. Architecture+ is committed to providing extensive training on Bentley products, as well as other software programs, languages, and building codes, which has translated to external opportunities as well.

Architecture+ participates in a training program through the Incumbent Workers Training Program funded by the Louisiana Department of Labor. The ultimate goal of the community, the area community college, and Architecture+ is to train people with skills for not only their current position, but also for the future. This state-funded training program is aimed at providing the training necessary to keep a skilled workforce in the state of Louisiana.

Finalist

Traffic Planning and Design, Inc.

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

Implementing software upgrades and new features into existing workflows can be a challenge. Bentley’s training subscription has enabled users to receive the training needed to utilize the upgrades and new features, which then promote more efficiency. For instance, team members have been able to use many of the advanced features in both MicroStation and InRoads as a direct result of the training that they have attended. 

By using the advanced features in InRoads, projects can be designed faster and more accurately. Case in point: a high-profile quick turnaround project that needed to be designed and approved in nine months. Normally, a project of this size would have taken at least 18 months to design and receive approval, but by using the advanced capabilities of InRoads, the firm met the aggressive goals of the project.

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