Nearly 10 years ago, the leadership of JLG Architects took the first steps on a strategic growth path aimed at transitioning the closely held, generalist design studio that co-founder and president Lonnie Laffen recalls “did everything” into a sustainable organization capable of delivering specialized expertise beyond its original Minnesota-and-Dakotas-centric service area.

随着该公司在2019年纪念其成立30周年，该计划似乎在很大程度上得到了回报。去年，JLG仅获得科罗拉多州，怀俄明州和达科他州地区的收入超过了3320万美元，几乎是2017年表现的两倍。但是，出色的收入增长只是促使JLG作为Enr Mountain States的年度最佳设计公司的几个因素之一，Wyoming和Dakotas。新利luck

备受瞩目的项目点数该公司的18luck官网投资组合，包括北卡罗来纳州格兰德福克斯的3.05亿美元，500,000平方英尺的Altru卫生系统医院；南卡罗来纳州苏福尔斯市中心的5000万美元转型将停车场驶入一个新的现场工作中心；以及北卡罗来纳州梅多拉（Medora）的1.5亿美元的西奥多·罗斯福总统图书馆和博物馆。

JLG还完成了2018年的战略领导力变更，拉芬将CEO角色移交给了Michelle Mongeon Allen，后者此前曾担任该公司的首席运营官。在继续担任公司总裁的同时，拉芬现在可以更多地关注JLG蓬勃发展​​的曲棍球 - Arena设计实践。

Allen considers leadership realignment a natural response to JLG’s rise over the past several years. A combination of strategic acquisitions and organic growth has transformed the firm from four offices and only 25 employees into an enterprise with nearly 120 employees in 12 offices in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Office No. 13, in St. Cloud, Minn., opened this year.

Allen adds that scaling to a more market-based growth strategy meant making sure the right management infrastructure was in place. “In 2018 we saw the first evidence of how well that effort was working,” she says.

JLG进化的一项关键举动是在2014年，当时该公司完全拥有员工拥有，Laffen回忆说，从最初的计划限制了所有权买入到少数校长的计划中。拉芬说，由于迅速扩张，JLG发现了“ 20个婴儿潮一代和100个千禧一代”，这使员工股票拥有计划（ESOP）更加可行，并帮助解决了对未来所有权的任何担忧。该公司在ESOP面前有12名所有者（四个多数，8个少数）。

艾伦补充说，得益于JLG建立了良好的“开放式”文化，“ ESOP很大，但并没有标志着其管理方法的180度转变”。JLG保留其强调专业工作室而不是地理利润中心的一公司模型，继续专注于医疗保健，K-12，高等教育和体育设施等项目。18luck官网

剩下的客户专注于

然而，即使有了这些国家的野心，JLG设计总监Jeff Steiner表示，与希望在社区中有所作为的客户保持亲密关系至关重要。这包括提供强大的客户服务元素，如Altru医院项目所证明的那样，随着规划和设计的进行，其领导才能发生变化。

Steiner说：“他们需要我们成为帮助执行一个已经复杂项目的强大合作伙伴。”“我们需要通过他们的眼睛看待事物，并提供更高水平的项目管理，以确保将所有设计输入纳入清晰的设计概念中。”

JLG’s history and approach to design is a natural complement to relatively small clients that likewise harbor big dreams. At Dakota State University in Madison, S.D., for example, the firm designed an advanced research facility. The first of its kind in the Midwest, the facility will support classified government and industry work.

Currently, JLG is collaborating with Dakota State on an athletics master plan to consolidate its sports programs into a single district. The program’s primary components—an events center, indoor practice facility and football field—will share a two-level concourse that will house support spaces for athletics and academic programs and improve the game-day experience for alumni and fans.

Developing the master plan was “a fun process,” with JLG bringing many ideas to the table, according to Stacy Krusemark, Dakota State vice president of business and administration. “The plan is efficient and effective, with no wasted space.”

Krusemark补充说，JLG的社区参与服务在筹款方面起着关键作用，以帮助将总体规划概念变为现实。

克鲁斯马克说：“没有什么能像出色的设计那样激发潜在的捐助者，”他指出，JLG在设计网络中与达科他州（Dakota State）作为该州指定的IT学校的角色的增强现实组成部分。

推动新市场

Still, to truly make a splash on the national stage, JLG’s leadership felt the firm needed a niche it could call its own.

艾伦回忆说：“我们问自己，人们会相信哪个人的设计公司会擅长。”“答案是冰球竞技场。除了在任何地方玩过热情的球迷和强大的社区支持外，体育社区都非常接近。这有助于我们相对迅速地建立存在。”

JLG现在在全国各地有17个曲棍球项目，其中18luck官网包括科罗拉多大学的新3000万美元爱德华·J·罗布森竞技场。Along with being the first on-campus home for the school’s hockey teams in 80 years, the 3,000-seat arena will set a benchmark in sports facilities design as a carbon-neutral facility, utilizing a new 10-megawatt solar array and existing on-campus sources for energy.

Chris Coulter, Colorado College director of facilities, credits Laffen and JLG for understanding the hockey program’s history, current and long-term needs and the inherent challenges of competing with the country’s elite hockey schools.

库尔特说：“朗尼组成了一个了不起的设计团队，并一直参与其中 - 您并不总是与建筑公司的负责人看到。”“他想确保我们的设计满足我们的所有需求，并且可以持续。这是一个25至50年的设施。”

库尔特（Coulter）希望罗布森竞技场（Robson Arena）在其他方面成为持久的地标。作为科罗拉多斯普林斯（Colorado Springs）冠军倡议的一部分，旨在促进与体育有关的旅游业和经济发展，该设施将有能力举办涉及来自全国各地的球队的曲棍球比赛。

他补充说：“这是一个高可见性项目。”

服务机会

JLG增长没有改变的一个方面是它对社区服务的承诺，Laffen说，这一传统可以追溯到他在250人小镇的童年，“每个人都做了很多事情。”

As JLG grew, it attracted others who had grown up in the same culture. “As we opened more offices,” Laffen says, “we wanted to give our people opportunities to continue doing that.”

除了JLG友邦1 +总结的承诺m, in which 1% of the firm’s billings are donated to not-for-profit work, the firm supports more than 200 local and regional charities by hosting collegiate video competitions, community cleanups and fundraising events. “Rock the Streets,” a JLG-hosted annual dance party, has become an end-of-summer staple in Grand Forks, Fargo and other communities the firm has served throughout its history.

这些和其他努力为JLG去年作为美国MSN Money和Lifestyle网站BestLife.com的50家公司之一做出了贡献。根据BestLife的说法，该名称是从“访谈，本地商业杂志，福布斯和财富等主要渠道以及其他统计数据等主要商店中得出的”。

Thanks to continued strength in its core service areas, Allen considers JLG well positioned to achieve its broader ambitions. The firm’s sports design studio is just the start. “Becoming better known in that area will help create opportunities for the other specialties,” she says.

Laffen表示，无论JLG的战略如何展开，都指导该公司增长到这一点的基本原则不会改变。

他说：“这在我们的文化中根深蒂固。”“我看不出它如何改变。”