After CEO dies of COVID-19 complications, engineering firm aims to uphold his legacy
In 1997, Calvin Ladner was fed up with corporate jargon, shareholders and bottom lines. So, after leading the spinoff of LJA Engineering from its parent, RUST Engineering, he instilled values in newly independent firm that emphasized family, community and personal growth.
LJA grew, too. Under Ladner, who took over the firm as president at 39, LJA expanded from 40 employees to 1,200 to become one of the largest privately held and employee-owned firms in Houston.
Ladner died in August of complications from COVID-19. He was 62.
“He was bound and determined to keep this small, not the big-company corporate feel,” said James Ross, the CEO of LJA Engineering.
Now, Ross and the rest of the employees at LJA Engineering are striving to uphold Ladner’s legacy and honor the working culture he created.
It’s a culture that has kept it near the top of the Houston Chronicle’s TopWorkplaces list for the last six years. The company this year claimed the No. 2 spot among large companies.
“He started this family atmosphere, and he did a very good job of building this with people who believed in the vision,” Ross said. “We’re as strong or stronger than we were (before the pandemic), and that is really a tribute to him.”
COVID-19 hits
In March, when county shutdowns to slow the spread of the virus were ordered, the firm was considered an essential business due to the work it does for municipalities, Ross said. But the real question for leadership was how it would keep employees safe.
Some offices remained open for basic services, but most employees transitioned to working remotely. Even as many of employees have returned to the office this fall, the company decided to “err on the side of caution” Ross said, with flexible options for employees to continue to work remotely.
‘Everyone has a part’
The disruption of the pandemic was made easier, Ross said, because LJA Engineering had already empowered its mid-level managers and employees to make decisions quickly. And, he said, the employee-owned structure “goes a long way” toward building a workplace culture in which each employee feels not only valued by, but invested in, the company’s success.
“Everybody has a part in our success,” said Ladner in 2015, according to a quote provided by LJA Engineering.