PORTLAND, Oregon, February 8, 2022 – SSOE Group (www.ssoe.com), a global project delivery firm for architecture, engineering, and construction management, is proud to announce the recent appointment of Catherine Myers, PE, who serves as the firm’s President and Chair of the Board, to the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) Board of Directors. LCI’s mission to transform the construction and design industry is led by its board, which is comprised of senior management professionals with expertise in architecture, engineering, and construction. Members are engaged as leaders in ongoing efforts to better define LCI’s role and enhance its ability to pursue its goals and objectives.
SSOE began its corporate partnership with LCI in 2015 to align with the firm’s efforts to advance Lean Principles as the cornerstone of its culture and organizational strategy. Over the past few years, SSOE’s Board of Directors has been working to solidify the firm’s internal Lean Operating Strategy by identifying areas of communication, defining value, and visualizing planning. This year, SSOE is evolving its Lean Operating Strategy initiative, under the executive sponsorship of Myers, into a Lean Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP recently kicked off and will spend the remainder of the year focusing on training and mentoring in a way that supports SSOE’s focus on the voice of the customer while furthering employees’ knowledge base and understanding of Lean.
Myers commented on her board appointment, saying, “My involvement with the LCI Board of Directors reinforces our company’s efforts to continue to advance Lean thinking within the AEC industry as well as within SSOE to both create value and drive efficiency. SSOE’s mission of delivering unparalleled client value that advances the AEC industry certainly aligns with this involvement. SSOE views the incorporation of Lean thinking and processes into our project delivery and administrative practices as a vital element as we pursue our strategic initiatives. I’m excited to collaborate and strategize with my fellow LCI board members as we learn from one other and build upon our existing expertise while also pursuing LCI’s goals.”
Myers joined SSOE in July 2017 as the Strategic Business Unit Manager for Advanced Technology. She now serves as Chair of SSOE’s Board of Directors and President of SSOE’s engineering and construction management operations—notably, the first woman to serve in any of these roles. A graduate of the University of Portland, Myers holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and has been a registered Professional Engineer for over 30 years. In addition to serving on SSOE’s and LCI’s Board of Directors, Catherine currently serves on the De La Salle North Catholic High School Advisory Board in Portland, Oregon where she resides.
LCI is a member-based organization whose mission is to lead the building industry in transforming its practices and culture through Lean thinking, tools, and technology. They envision a healthy and thriving building industry delivering outstanding project outcomes every time for everyone. Their plans include developing research products to help companies implement Lean production more effectively, learning programs to help answer the “why” and “how” of Lean implementation, and unique national and regional activities to promote Lean learning and networking across the industry. SSOE’s Lean experts have attended and presented at several of LCI’s events through the years, including the LCI Congress and Design Forum. Myers herself participated in a panel session at last year’s Congress—alongside SSOE Outside Board Director John Pemberton, a former LCI board member—titled “The Strategy, Tactics, and Tools of Developing a Lean Operating Strategy.”
In addition to Myers’ appointment to the LCI Board of Directors, SSOE’s Julie Dolan, Lean Practice Leader and Client Success Manager who has served as a core team member of the LCI Ohio Valley CoP since 2019 and a member of the National Practice Leaders of LCI CoP since 2021, was recently invited to participate in LCI’s National CoP. SSOE’s Lisa Hitchingham, PE, Chemical Process Engineer, is currently serving on the committee overseeing LCI’s Lean Design Forum in May of this year.
