Having visited Colorado on family ski trips in her youth and later as an adult, Sargent & Lundy Senior Project Manager Liz Mattson always knew Denver was a place she wanted to be. When the opportunity to relocate came along, she jumped at it.
Based in Chicago since 1891, Sargent & Lundy established local offices in Denver in 2020. The 135-year-old firm is a global leader in power, energy and decarbonization with expertise in grid modernization, renewable energy, energy storage, nuclear power, conventional power, environmental services, carbon capture and hydrogen.
“I was attending an all-hands meeting where the CEO said if anyone is interested in relocating to another office, speak to your supervisor,” Mattson recalled. “Three days later, I was in my supervisor’s office and two months after that, I was here.”
Two years later, the Chicago transplant hasn’t looked back. She says the oft-repeated fact of 300 days of sunshine a year affords her an active lifestyle of biking, hiking and paddleboarding on the nearby reservoir.
“It’s definitely lived up to all of my expectations,” Mattson said.
And she’s not alone. Sargent & Lundy’s Englewood and Westminster offices are expanding. Since moving into the new Englewood office space earlier this year, the firm has expanded to another floor to accommodate new employees – many of them transplants like Mattson.
What they find is a welcoming, tight-knit office culture. Employees bond over outdoor activities participating in company-sponsored hiking, biking, pickleball, running and other clubs along with a co-ed softball team. In the summer, there are barbecues, and in the winter, ski trips bring employees from different parts of the business together.
That sense of community is a big reason why Sargent & Lundy has earned honors on The Denver Post’s Top Workplaces 2025 list.
Cultural continuity
The firm’s Denver offices have been rapidly growing to meet the increasing demands for power and energy. At the same time, they have remained true to their principles of building collaborative teams and valuing a healthy work-life balance.
“We have very strong ties and know each other’s families well,” said Sargent & Lundy Vice President Gregory Campbell, who leads the firm’s Denver offices. “Our roots in the Denver offices are in the oil and gas industry and our Denver offices have been growing and diversifying into every sector of the power industry, but we’ve been adamant about maintaining the family feel and culture we’ve established here.”
Building a collaborative environment
Given the growth in the Denver offices, engineers across multiple disciplines and project teams collaborate on diverse projects in the power industry from nuclear energy to transmission and distribution to carbon capture, allowing team members to cross train and learn from each other. The Denver office continues to maintain a strong focus on serving clients in the oil and gas industry in both upstream and midstream projects, including the electrification of oil fields, drawing on Sargent & Lundy’s expertise in transmission and distribution, substations, microgrids and power generation.
“Our Englewood and Westminster offices are thriving and playing an ever-increasing role in our services across the energy industry,” said Sargent & Lundy Chairman, President and CEO Victor Suchodolski. “Given the location and proximity to some of the best engineering schools in the country, we’re able to attract top talent to contribute to our projects throughout our entire portfolio.”
Top talent for a top workplace
Sargent & Lundy is continuing to grow and has over 1,000 open positions nationwide for engineers, designers, project managers and professional support staff. For people just starting out in the industry, the firm has developed a successful internship program. In the Denver offices and throughout the company, it’s common for interns to later become full-time employees.
The company is making its debut on this year’s Denver Post Top Workplaces list and has been a fixture on the national Top Workplaces USA list. It recently earned its fifth Top Workplaces USA award – a recognition fewer than 200 companies nationwide have received every year since the honor was created in 2021.
Meaningful impact
Sargent & Lundy offers a benefits package that goes beyond the basics, offering paid parental leave, flexible holidays, wellness and mental health programs, charitable giving opportunities and even paid time off donation programs.
According to the latest data compiled by Energage, 92% of Sargent & Lundy employees would highly recommend working at the firm to others and 89% say their job makes them feel like they are part of something meaningful.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.
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