At the end of July, the entire Colby Co team gathered together on the front lawn at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, ME to celebrate the summer with employees and their families. Black Tie Catering provided food for the event, and families enjoyed lawn games while relaxing for the afternoon. We work hard, and play hard too!
This past weekend, June 17 – 19th, the Colby Co team participated in the Trek Across Maine.
The Colby Co team this year consisted of 14 members, and together raised $13,727 for this nonprofit organization! This is the 10th year Colby Co. has hosted a Trek team, and the popularity of this event within the company continues to grow.
The Trek Across Maine benefits the American Lung Association where all donated dollars go to education, research and advocacy to reduce lung cancer, improve the air we breathe and help other lung related illnesses. The Trek Across Maine started in 1985 and has been one of the largest fundraising events for the American Lung Association. This year, over 800 bikers participated and over 600 volunteers helped out with this event. Over the 3 days, the Trekkers cycled over 180 miles in Maine, from the ocean to the lakes and every hill in between! The route ran from Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick to Bates College in Lewiston, to St. Joseph’s College in Standish and back again to the start.
If you would like to learn more about this organization, visit their website HERE.
Shaili joined Colby Co. in 2018 as an Architectural Designer and joined a growing team of Architects and Designers at Colby Co. While here, Shaili began studying for the ARE exams to become a licensed Architect. This March, Shaili finished all of the necessary exams and became a Registered Architect, and holds an NCARB certificate. Congratulations!
Shaili Patel graduated from Norwich University in May 2017 with her Masters in Architecture. Previously, she attended Norwich earning her BS in Architectural Studies and a BA in History, graduating in 2016.
In addition to her outstanding hard work earning her licensure, Shaili also belongs to the Board of Fellows at Norwich University where she works with both students and faculty on the current curriculum to make sure the courses remain relevant to the industry.
Recently she also became the Vice President of the Maine chapter of Engineers without Borders where she helps facilitate build projects and community programs in countries who may need those services.
Congratulations on all of your hard work, Shaili!
Colby Co. is a multi-disciplinary design firm with registered Professional Engineers in the Electrical, Mechanical, Fire Protection, Structural and Civil fields as well as an experienced group of Architects and Architectural Designers. With professional registrations in 35 states, five Canadian Provinces and world-wide project experience, Colby Co. provides designs for numerous types of design projects.
On Wednesday, January 26, 2022 eight members of the Colby Co. crew headed north to Madison Area Memorial High School in Madison, ME. There, the Colby Co. team surprised nearly 70 students with an introduction into the engineering profession along with a STEM activity that included the creation of a ventilated clean room for health care workers.
This was the first time many students had been exposed to the engineering field, and for many students this was the first time in years where they were able to collaborate with teams since the beginning of the pandemic. Many members from the school commented that they noticed students who are usually quiet in the classroom emerge as leaders within this hands-on experiment, and groups of students who normally wouldn’t work together rise together in collaboration.
Heather Sustersic, PE led a presentation that included highlighting the different engineering fields along with their function and importance to the assembly of kids, while Amanda Vogler, LEED spoke about Mechanical Engineering and its importance in the activity created by the Colby Co. team.
With 40 minutes on the timer, the high school students were tasked to create a well-ventilated hospital room where the goal was to keep the health care provider safe from a contaminated patient. Students used tools like fans, blowers, ductwork, plastic sheets, tape and scissors to create a ventilated space that would move contaminated air through the room while keeping the healthcare worker at minimal exposure. Once their rooms were complete, students tested their experiment by having a patient “cough” cornstarch in the room while the healthcare worker tried to care for the patient within a 2 minute period. The room that moved the air the most with their designed ventilation system, and kept the cornstarch from attaching to the healthcare worker, won a prize.
During the event, the Colby Co. team met with students to encourage their critical thinking and problem solving, while keeping them on task with a limited budget and resources. They shared their own problem solving techniques and unique challenges within the industry.
On December 9, 2021 Colby Co. employees gathered together at Belleflower Brewing Company to celebrate the holiday and another successful year together. With 18 new clients, multiple new hires and fun new projects, we had a lot to celebrate!
The employees and their families at Colby Co. spent a few days between October and November volunteering their time at Sebago Lake State Park working to clean up the park, raking leaves, clearing brush, repairing drainage access, and cutting down damaged overhanging branches.
Volunteer days are an important part of the Colby Co. culture, as are the state parks in Maine. Each year Colby Co. provides a Maine State Park Vehicle Pass to each of its employees. With their combined State Park visits, employees have visited all of the 39 Maine State Parks. Colby Co. values the Maine State Parks System and we were glad to help make Sebago more accessible for next year’s users.
Colby Co. was recently named as one of the 2021 Best Places to Work in Maine, ranking #6 in the Medium Business Category. This statewide survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Maine, benefiting the state’s economy, its workforce and businesses. The 2021 Best Places to Work in Maine list is made up of 100 companies in three size categories: small (15-49 U.S. employees), medium (50-249 U.S. employees) and large (250+ U.S. employees).
Companies from across the state entered the two-part process to determine the Best Places to Work in Maine. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices, and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience which is worth approximately 75% of the total evaluation.
This is the 4th year in a row that Colby Co. has been named to this list, ranking in the Top Ten of companies in its category every year. We are truly humbled by our employees who make this place what it is! Comments from this anonymous survey included:
It’s a fast paced professional workplace with smart people who want to learn and collaborate with everyone on the team. We work hard and play often. Colby Co. is very family oriented with lots of employee and family events throughout the year. Work-life balance is highly encouraged.
As an employee, I have the autonomy and support to excel at my job. There is a shared level of respect and culture of teamwork that makes for an engaging and enjoyable work environment.
Colby Co. prides itself on safety, customer relations/satisfaction, and employees. I have never worked for such a selfless company. Giving to the community, and the employees as much as possible. Company meetings outside the office, company outings, volunteer work, and an amazing work environment that is successful by putting the customers needs before its own. There no sense of “I” at Colby Co., it is such an amazing group of educated people that work as a team to accomplish amazing and sometimes extremely difficult goals.
Meet Amanda Vogler.
Amanda started at Colby Co. in October 2017. Before arriving at Colby Co., Amanda attended Binghamton University where she earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering, and graduated in May of 2016. Two years later, she decided to go back to school for a Masters in Math. She enrolled at John Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, for Engineering professionals, and plans on graduating this May, 2022 with an MS in Applied and Computational Mathematics. This semester project focused on ventilation as the #1 way to prevent Covid. Her degree will continue to provide conceptual applicability to her job here at Colby Co. as a Mechanical Engineer. In addition to her masters program, Amanda earned her EIT, and will be working toward her PE license at the end of 2022.
In her free time, Amanda also teaches Yoga, loves to rock climb at Salt Pump, and loves playing with her dog, Josie.
Congratulations to Chris Nelson!
Chris Nelson graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in August 2021 with his MS in Fire Protection. Previously, he attended WPI from 2016-2020, earning his BS in Mechanical Engineering. He will be completing his PE classes next, and submitting for his exams next October.
Chris joined Colby Co. in 2019 and joined a growing team of Fire Protection Engineers at Colby Co.
Colby Co. is a multi-disciplinary design firm with registered Professional Engineers in the Electrical, Mechanical, Fire Protection, Structural and Civil fields as well as an experienced group of Architects and Architectural Designers. With professional registrations in 35 states, five Canadian Provinces and world-wide project experience, Colby Co. provides designs for numerous types of design projects.
Employees and their families hit the ground running in order to earn money for a cause! In its inaugural debut, Colby Co. hosted a virtual race for their employees and families in order to get out, have fun, and give back to the community.
Participants had the opportunity to sign up for a 5k, 10k or 1k (kids) Virtual Run/Walk Race. For every participant who signed up, Colby Co. donated up to $200 to the employee’s favorite non-profit organization.In all, 58 employees and their family members signed up to race, and 187 miles were covered in this fun run! $3500 was donated to a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, Cooking For Community, Preble Street, and Maine Needs all on behalf of Colby Co.. Winners of the virtual races also earned a gift card to Fleet Feet. Congratulations, Colby Co. Runners!
