Coffey Engineering and Surveying

Coffey Engineering and Surveying was founded 69 years ago in Laramie, WY. Its current CEO, Dave Coffey, took over the business in 2004 after the passing of Dave's father, Joel. Coffey Engineering provides engineering, surveying, and consulting services to clients throughout Wyoming and Northern Colorado through their headquarters in Laramie and office in Loveland, CO with a total staff of 40 employees.

Transformation at the Top
Coffey Engineering and Surveying lives by the Code of the West, a set of 10 ethical practices first set down by writer Zane Grey in his 1934 novel of the same name and revived by Jim Owens and applied to the business world in the book Cowboy Ethics. Beyond an ethical code, when Dave Coffey took over Coffey Engineering, he knew he would need to know more about business and leadership and so has not been afraid to ask for advice and guidance from a long list of mentors.

Reinforce and Build
To make sure both company information and ethical practices are shared with the entire staff, Dave Coffey created the Principle Group. This group is made up of employees who have shown initiative and interest in leadership and act as a liaison between leadership and the rest of the staff. Every week, the Principle Group meets with the leadership team to learn executive-level information and then pass that on to the rest of the staff. This helps foster trust in employees on the management side and ownership over the whole company on the employee side.

Unite the Team
Coffey Engineering and Surveying ensures that employees are invested in determining the overall direction of the organization. This year, Coffey Engineering will roll out an updated mission and vision statement, and employees have been engaged throughout the process of drafting these foundational principles. The company is also willing to forgo business that violates their principles, such as when they refused to do business with an oil and gas company that wanted Coffey Engineering to participate in a potentially illegal kickback scheme.

Steer Performance
Coffey Engineering and Surveying makes sure to align employee growth and skills with the overall organization. The strategic plan is used every six months in employee performance reviews both to make sure that employee progress supports organizational progress and that employees are matched to the needs of the organization. Coffey Engineering also supports employee passions and innovations; when a surveyor expressed an interest in UAVs and drones, he was allowed to develop a whole new department taking advantage of this technology.

Treasure People
The interview and recruitment process at Coffey Engineering and Surveying is heavily focused on soft skills, two of the most important of which are integrity and kindness. One of the make-or-break moments in each interview process is when candidates are asked what their definition of personal accountability is. Safety is also paramount to Coffey Engineering. Before each job, a detailed safety plan is created which identifies and assesses risks and tries to mitigate them as best as possible. Employees though have the final say on whether to proceed, if the situation feels unsafe despite following the safety plan.

Enthusiastically Reinvest!
Coffey Engineering and Surveying has invested its expertise in the Laramie community in a number of ways, two of which stand out. The company's Laramie office is on a busy street that has a number of accidents in the winter, so to protect cars from hitting Coffey Engineering's building, the company worked with the Laramie Public Art Coalition to design a sculpture that acts as a barrier and also provides a piece of community art. Coffey Engineering also noticed that survey data of the University of Wyoming campus was incorrect, so a complex control system was installed to make sure the university always has up-to-date and accurate survey data for future engineering and construction projects.