Inspiring Conversations with Dean Dalvit of EVstudio

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Dean Dalvit.

Hi Dean, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always had a love for buildings and the built environment. Spending most of the Summers of my youth working in some form of construction, I had been advised by many of the “old-timers” that I worked with to get an education and become licensed so I could be on the design side of the construction industry.

My father was an engineer at a construction firm, and my mother was an artist and entrepreneur. My academic career took me through two engineering degrees, as I felt that left the most options open. After working for a few years as an engineer, I discovered that architecture was my true passion, so I underwent the lengthy process of becoming licensed as an architect. Later, I went ahead and became licensed as an engineer.

I started my own Architecture firm in 2005, and after a year of great success (which to an Architect means long hours and sleepless nights), I brought on a partner, and EVstudio was born. We have grown steadily over the years (now to over 100 employees and multiple offices in the Western region), and the business is based on the simple fundamentals of high client service, great design, and practical creativity.

As a dual licensed professional, the DNA of EVstudio is also multidisciplinary and, like my own professional experiences, the firm has deep expertise in Architecture as well as Structural, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineering with subspecialties in Surveying and Field Services to help Contractors do their work.

We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The Great Recession had a tremendous impact on design firms worldwide. Many reduced staff by half or more, while others went completely out of business. Jobs were hard to come by for many talented professionals, and clients were even harder to find. Our young company was only two years old when the housing bubble began to burst, which decimated virtually every asset class along with it.

We quickly strategized a number of objectives that would enable us to not only make it through what at the time seemed to be an indefinite situation but actually strengthen the firm and make it more resilient once it was all over. We developed strategic partnerships with very talented but out-of-work design professionals to broaden our ability to market new work. We also created an affiliate program with other allied design businesses to both co-market and share work, some of which ultimately became business units of EVstudio.

Some of these alliances also broadened our geographic reach beyond the local market where we were located, and this took us as far north as Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and as far south as the Texas-Mexico border and everywhere in between. We also created in-house departments for other design services like structural and MEP engineering so we could provide a broader base of services to our clients. We pivoted within the market and chased projects in higher education and government work – both client types that were largely insulated from a recession.

The combination of talent and services won us the projects, and we managed to get through the entire recession not only without laying anybody off but growing the firm. Once on the other side, we were positioned as an A/E leader across the region, which put us on a trajectory to continue the growth to where we are today. And all the while maintaining our strategic decisions to diversify in project type, services offered, and geographic location.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The EVstudio story started as a sole proprietorship operating out of my basement and has grown to over 100 professionals in multiple offices across the Rocky Mountain region. From the beginning, the vision was always to grow the company for several reasons. Growth allows for diversity in market opportunity, project type, and variety of services and inherently provides stability and resilience for the entire team.

Growth also affords a tremendous opportunity for team member career growth that I never had when working at other firms, including ownership opportunities. Our process of growth can only be described as organic, and over the years, we have learned that it tends to come in waves. Growing our team requires steadily increasing work. We encourage and empower all of our team members to participate in business development at all levels, so much of that fuel for growth comes from within and naturally scales as we continue to add talented professionals to our team.

We also see growth through the repeat work we do with our trusted clients, who are also scaling their businesses. We are committed to scaling our team to meet the growing needs of our clients. It has not always been easy. Having started the firm in 2006, we enjoyed a few years of boom economy up until the Great Recession when real estate development literally dropped off a cliff. We were nimble and reactive at the time, and we began an intentional effort to provide more services as we had fewer clients.

This was when we launched our in-house engineering departments, which effectively enabled us to actually grow during the recession while many of our peers were reducing in size or going out of business altogether. We also diversified our project type at the time, winning projects for higher education and military clients that were protected from the recession. We came out of the recession stronger than before and set on a trajectory of growth that increased the EVstudio team by 20%-30% year over year ever since.

While this level of growth places considerable demands on our recruiting and HR staff, our support services have also had to grow to keep pace. More recently, we launched an acquisitions program and have since acquired another firm to enable strategic regional growth at a larger scale. This acquisition strategy will continue to be a part of the EVstudio growth plan as we have organized the firm to easily absorb new teams within our highly effective vertically integrated A/E Studio model.

We very much have our sights set on being a leading National firm in 5 years and then continuing to scale internationally, so we have plenty of runway to go yet. All the while, we maintain a culture of excellence, creativity, and, most importantly, joy, which is one of our core values and a constant focus in everything we do.

We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.
Risk is an inherent feature of entrepreneurship. The rewards come both financially when times are good, and in knowing that we’re providing livelihoods for our team. Simply starting a company is a significant risk, and making continued investments along the way and taking on full recourse debt to do so is just part of the process.

I don’t see myself as risk-averse or reckless. I’d characterize it more as taking calculated risks. Do what you do really well, surround yourself with similarly talented people, and you will have something of value. As long as we focus on one thing, excellence, then everything else seems to work out. That has served us well so far.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.evstudio.com
• Instagram: @evstudioae
• Facebook: EVstudioAEP
• Linkedin: deandalvit
• Twitter: evstudioaep

Image Credits
EVstudio