Norwest’s Featured Employee: Jim Stone
"I feel connected to what people need and that’s important to me."
At Norwest, we are extremely fortunate to have an amazing team. With the relaunch of our website, we have created a program to feature one member of our staff. For the month of November, our Featured Employee is the very talented and brilliant, James Stone.
I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with Jim and discuss what brought him to Norwest and what keeps him on our team. As someone who has had opportunities to work closely with Jim, I can say that the things I appreciate most about him are his playful nature, his passion for Norwest and the work we do, and his quest for constant improvement. Jim is someone who embraces every challenge with a smile and a “let’s do this” attitude. It’s probably why he is such a proficient whitewater rafter, but more on that later.
Jim’s manager, Chris Stine, describes him as truly enjoying the connection he makes with his clients and is the embodiment of Norwest’s commitment to Passion. “I know its cliché to use a word in its definition, but there really isn’t any other way to describe Jim. He is extremely passionate about the type of work Norwest does and the people we serve. Additionally, he puts an emphasis on building relationships outside of the project itself. For example, he just went with a client and our head of mechanical, Jason, on a fishing trip down in Midland the other week. That’s just who Jim is.” I could not agree more, and I hope this piece gives you a glimpse into who our lovely Jim Stone is and why we are so proud to have him on our team.
Q: "Jim thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me today. I want to start off by getting a better understanding of your background in the industry, what led you to join the Norwest Portland team, and how your role has changed over time."
A: "Well I have my degree in Civil Engineering and worked in commercial engineering for about six years before I went back to school and became a physical therapist."
Q: "What made you leave engineering to begin with and pursue physical therapy?"
A: "I worked 6 years in commercial engineering/geotechnical engineering, and I saw the freedom my wife had working as a medical professional. When her last patient left the office, she was done. I envied her profession and freedom. I guess you could say I was having an early crisis."
Q: "So out of all the healthcare professions, why physical therapy?"
A: "I actually was really familiar with it because I got hurt so much. I figured with my experience it was a good fit."
Q: "What made you come back to engineering?"
A: "It all started when I had cut down to part-time with my physical therapy practice. My wife had lunch with Cindy, Mike’s wife (Norwest’s Owner) and Cindy mentioned a need. I have a long history with Mike, we went to college together and have been friends for several years so when Mike gave me a call and asked if I could help him out with a project, I didn’t hesitate at all. It was just supposed to be the one project, but then one led to two, and then 7 years later here I still am."
“My history with the project and relationship with the client allowed this new PM to really trust my advice and trust what Norwest was doing. That’s the type of relationship I want with all my clients. I want Norwest to be the people they call in a pinch."
Q: "How did that one project lead to the project manager role you have today"
A: "Well, after a few projects, I went on a marketing trip through Colorado and Wyoming with Mike Hagan (one of Norwest’s original owners) and Ron, who was on the sales team. It was for a product I was very unfamiliar with and learning how to have a conversation with the client and not just be a spot on the wall was really interesting. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it turns out that was my interview to be a part of the Norwest Marketing Team. I was happy to switch back to engineering and wanted to do marketing with a touch of project management."
Q: "You’ve already talked about your personal connection to Norwest and what brought you to our team, but can you tell me a little about what keeps you coming back every day and not going back to physical therapy?"
A: "To be honest I wasn’t really challenged as a therapist. It’s part of the reason I had gone down to part-time. I was looking into possibly going into neurology because I really liked the neurology cases. I found the mix of physical and mental to be this very interesting puzzle. As fate would have it, I actually got offered a position in neurology five days after accepting a full-time offer from Norwest."
Q: "Really?! What made you decide to stay with Norwest?"
A: "Well I had already accepted the offer. I mean, I was excited to work with a good friend. Mike and I had gone to college together and got our engineering degrees together. But to be honest, it wasn’t all just out of loyalty.
I stayed because Norwest was a company with individuals I had never had the opportunity to work with before. It seemed like there really was a shining light on an opportunity to do something different."
Q: "Can you elaborate on what you mean by working with individuals you hadn’t had an opportunity with before?"
A: "Well it was multi-disciplinary which was new for me, and I had never worked in heavy industrial before. I found the heavy industrial aspect fascinating. It’s a whole industry that no one really thinks about or knows exists. I mean you drive by these places every day and don’t think about what’s going on behind the fence, but it’s stuff you use every day and that felt meaningful to me. I feel connected to what people need and that’s important to me."
Q: "Wow. I really like that. And it’s so true! Outside of working in the “industry” what is something you really enjoy about your role?"
A: "I really enjoy the travel. I might not enjoy it as much if I was on the road as often as some of our engineers, but I get to travel about twice a month and I really enjoy it.
I also like interacting with those “good” clients. Earning their trust and when all the stars align being the person that they rely on. One example of this is a project we are working on right now in Portland. It is based at their local terminal and started with one person but was quickly handed off to the VP of Capital Projects, and then eventually passed to a new PM that they had just hired. He was really in a tough position because he not only had to get familiar with what we had already done, but the scope kept changing on him.
My history with the project and relationship with the client allowed this new PM to really trust my advice and trust what Norwest was doing. That’s the type of relationship I want with all my clients. I want Norwest to be the people they call in a pinch."
Q: "That’s amazing! I know that’s really an overarching goal of the company, to really be that “trusted advisor.” It’s so nice to hear that you were able to achieve that here. Out of curiosity, what are we actually doing for them? "
A: "Right now, we are expanding their marine services. Designing upgraded mechanical infrastructure. This is a perfect project for me because I really like in-water work. I really would like to see us doing a lot more of it in the future. I like that there aren’t really any codes for it. It’s what originally drew me to geotech work.
There are definitely a set of industry standards, but each location is different so the site can dictate a lot of the engineering. They still leave room for addressing analysis in a practical way.
Marine projects are part art and part science."
Q: "Changing gears a little bit, as you are well aware, Norwest launched a new set of Mission, Vision, Value statements a little over a year ago and I was curious what value you feel you embody the most and why?"
A: "I would have to say Empathy and Unity. I recognize that I’m one of the few at the company that hadn’t worked in the industry at all before I started here. I like to think I am empathetic about giving those around me the opportunity to express what they really need and use my role to facilitate getting those needs met.
I’m very careful about not stepping on people. I might be the Project Manager, but I don’t want to be the one steering the ship. I want to just go with the flow. I don’t look at it as captain and crew, but it’s a team and I have a lot of respect for the engineers around me. I do whatever I can to really foster that unity. When an engineer asks me how I might want something done, I often put it back to them, asking how they would like to do it. I’m always looking for feedback. I’m someone that understands what the client’s endgame is, but there are multiple paths to get there and I want to make sure we take a path that best suits the whole team."
Q: "I really like that! It sounds like a unique approach that supports teamwork. When you’re not working to create unity at Norwest, what’s something you like to do outside of the office?"
A: "I love to fish. When I was younger, I mainly fished for trout in central Oregon. I tend to do a lot of rafting and fishing now and coastal trips. I also have been doing a lot of salmon and steelhead fishing in the winters recently. I’m actually doing more fishing in winter and spring than any other time right now."
"Marine projects are part art and part science."
Q: "Did you say rafting? Like whitewater rafting?"
A: "Yeah. I do a lot of rafting with the family. Actually, funny story, I took the kids when they were 9 and 11 down a class five plus without realizing it and IT WAS EPIC.
Thankfully, everyone survived, but I think it aged my wife 10 years."
Q: "How did you get into rafting?"
A: "Actually, my wife. One summer when I was away, and she was in grad school, she went with a friend of ours who was a guide on the Deschutes, and she talked about it non-stop for the entire summer."
Q: "Do you have a certification in rafting or anything?"
A: "No, but I have been a part of the Oregon Whitewater Association for several years and you pick up all kinds of new things from the group. Typically, we take trips with 30-40 people, so mostly it's learning to cook for an army"
Q: "How do you get all your supplies down the river without it falling out of the raft?"
A: "Well, you learn how to strap it in real good. It’s a little science and art. In rafting they say there are two types of people: those who have flipped a raft and those that will. And I need to knock on something because I haven’t flipped a raft yet or gone for a really bad swim."
Q: "Yikes! Yeah, I went rafting once in Costa Rica and I’m not sure I would ever sign up to do it again."
A: "I have been really fortunate. I better knock on something. I really haven’t had a really bad swim yet, so I still very much enjoy it. But with the kids getting older we don’t do it as much as we used to."
Q: "That’s right. Your oldest went off to college this year."
A: "Yeah, he did. I even converted his room into a little workspace for when I’m working from home. I outfitted it with multiple monitors, and it feels very similar to my office here but to be honest I don’t use it often. I’d like to do it more and it is nice, but I just haven’t pushed it."
Q: "As we are coming to a close here and I always like to end with asking you to share a random fact about yourself that people in the office might not guess."
A: "That’s hard. I’m pretty much an open book. I guess most people don’t know that I worked for five summers in a gold mine in central Nevada.
My dad was an accountant for them, and they had this co-op program for college kids so they could avoid temporary employees over the summer. It paid like four or five times whatever the minimum wage was at the time, so I was in.
For my first summer, I shoveled for eight hours a day and I loved every minute of it!"
Q: "Wow, eight hours….that’s a long time in the hot summer sun for manual labor."
A: "I was young, dumb, and strong, so I loved it. The next summer I actually got promoted to a heavy equipment operator and it was like a 40% raise, so I made bank out there. I actually really enjoyed the heavy equipment and really had a knack for it.
Even though I liked running the heavy equipment I was afraid I would get bored so it was just a temporary thing for me. I had a hard time imagining doing the same thing every day. Oh, and I hated shift work. That will make you old. They kept changing it every three days or so and I just couldn’t take it."
Q: "Jim, I had no idea you loved shoveling so much! Thank you again for taking the time to meet with me today and for sharing your story with us. Is there anything you would like to close up with?"
A: "Just that I’m very grateful to be here. I was an outsider who was accepted, and I will never forget that."
Presented by
Norwest Media Team
For business inquiries:
Norwest Engineering, Inc.
A: 4110 NE 122nd Ave., Suite 207, Portland, Oregon
P: (503) 254-0110
E: Info@norwestengineering.com
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