SIDNEY – Civil engineering, landscape architecture and surveying firm Choice One Engineering has been named a “Forbes” Small Giant, as well as the No. 1 Civil Engineering Best Firm to Work For in the nation by Zweig Group, publisher of industry-leading “Civil + Structural Engineer Magazine.”
According to forbes.com, the “Small Giants list celebrates 25 standout businesses that favor greatness over growth … The companies are all privately owned, profitable, at least ten years old, and were selected based on factors including community involvement, commitment to staff, and industry excellence.”
Thousands of companies across five continents are part of the Small Giants community, and Choice One was selected in 2019 along with 24 other honorees that include companies as varied as interactive digital publishers, food service providers, real estate developers, software experts and brewing companies. Other notable businesses on the 2019 list include Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing and yard-game innovator and trendsetter Spikeball.
“Being named a Small Giant is incredible,” Choice One President Matt Hoying said. “In fact, being recognized as ‘excellent’ by a respected, well-known publication like ‘Forbes’ and an international organization like Small Giants is beyond incredible. Our employees and their families dedicate an incredible about of time and effort to make Choice One what it is and to have others outside of Choice One recognize what they are doing and seeing them stand out amongst 2,000 employee, $500 million companies is beyond words.”
On the heels of the Small Giants award is the firm’s recent designation as the No. 1 Best Firm to Work For by the Zweig Group, the leading nationwide publisher/resource in the civil engineering industry. Choice One, with offices in Sidney and Loveland, now has been ranked No. 1 on the national Best Firms list for the fourth time in five years and in the top five each of the last seven years.
“We’re competing against hundreds of firms across the nation and Canada,” Hoying continued, “and to be No. 1 for the fourth time is pretty amazing. Again, it’s a testament to the great employees and the great culture that we’ve been able to grow over the past 25 years.”
The firm also was named the No. 1 firm to work across all civil, environmental and structural engineering and architecture disciplines in the nation by the Zweig Group for firms with one to 49 employees.
According to the zweiggroup.com, firms competing for the Best Firms title “have been recognized for their ability to inspire their teams to perform at the highest levels. They’ve created an environment where their people feel valued, can make a difference, and can clearly see where their contribution fits into the overall mission and success of the firm.”
This isn’t the end to Choice One’s recent achievements. In addition to the No. 1 Best Firm award and a Small Giants designation, Choice One was named the No. 1 small business Best Place to Work by the “Dayton Business Journal” publication in March. The “Dayton Business Journal” “surveys employees of nominated companies on staff engagement, team effectiveness, manager effectiveness and other workplace best practices” to determine their rankings in this regional event.
“Being recognized nationally is exciting,” Hoying said, “but being recognized regionally, and against companies across all industries, is also huge. There are great people in the Miami Valley, and these people create great companies that are truly fantastic places to work. People don’t need to move away to be part of something great. Being named the No. 1 Best Place to Work in the Dayton region means our employees are not just great across the engineering and surveying industries but are great in the Miami Valley region and across all types of companies. We think it’s a great testament to the kind of people and organizations that are right here in our hometowns.”
All of this excitement comes as the firm celebrates its 25th anniversary in October. Choice One, which was founded in 1994, has grown to 49 employees across its two offices.
The company recently broke ground on an expansion at the Sidney location that will double its footprint locally. Additionally, the group moved to a new, larger Loveland location, which is in the Cincinnati region.
Choice One Engineering provides consulting civil engineering, landscape architecture and surveying services to public and private clients throughout western Ohio, eastern Indiana and northern Kentucky.
