JUNE 2022 That emphasis on staff development, Chip believes, is one of LDA’s main points of difference. He says the company “works hard on hiring the best people” – and once they acquire them, he says they do everything they can to retain them. “Many of them we get right out of school, and most of them stick around,” he explains. “We have at least half a dozen people who have been here close to 20 years.” Kelly joined LDA in 1999 after graduating from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering. She’s been with the company ever since as she quickly moved into a Senior Designer role, then Principal, and now co-CEO and Partner. She also now serves on the Advisory Board of KU’s School of Architecture and Design. “When you work here, you’re given an opportunity,” she says. “When you are a junior designer, you have the support of the senior team, but you also have ownership of what you’re doing. You can be creative. You can develop and maintain clients. You’re encouraged to ask questions; you’re encouraged to go out in the field and actually experience what you do.” “It’s such a collaborative environment,” she adds. “That’s one of the reasons why I think people want to work here.” LDA is also active philanthropically. Chip believes that activity is important to employees, especially the current generation of students and graduates. For example, LDA has offered a scholarship program for over 20 years; they are heavily involved with professional societies; they devote a lot of their time and money to charity. More recently, they started the efforts on a second scholarship. Chip also started the IALD Education Fund. Over the past year, they began the process of buying and collecting backpacks, filling them with sleeping bags and other essentials, and distributing them to homeless people through local shelters. “We try to have all of our people engaged in something important,” he says. “We don’t care whether that’s through us or not. It’s just about giving back. It’s not just a sales tool. We just believe if everybody helps everybody else out, we could have a better world.” On the topic of improving the world, LDA is also passionate about environmental sustainability. They design every project to be as efficient as possible – and they have set the example with their own office, which is designed to be net-zero and LEED Platinum. “We’ve put our money where our mouth is,” Chip says. “We can tell our clients: ‘Trust us because we’ve done it here.’ We can bring them in, and they can walk around and experience it first-hand. That usually goes a long way towards convincing them that sustainability is the way to go.” Taken together, Chip says the philanthropy and the sustainability creates a culture that is “very enticing for clients but rewarding for us and our staff.” “Our corporate culture allows us to draw the most talent and we believe our creative staff is our best asset. I will always put our team up against any of our competitors, and I’ll always think we’re the best. It’s the quality of the people that are with us.”
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