Additional software used includes databases like Oracle, Informix, and Ingres, as well as systems software like IBM's Tivoli and Computer Associates' tools. Additional packages include vendor-specific applications software, such as Oracle Financials, Oracle Project, and PeopleSoft. Naturally, the company also uses engineering drawing and document management software, including AutoCAD, Documentum, and FileNet.

Benefits include Preferred Provider (PPO) and Health Maintenance (HMO) options. The company pays for life insurance, business travel accident, and short-term disability. The company also contributes to a profit-sharing plan, in which contributions are used to purchase company stock and employees are fully vested after seven years. The company observes 8 1/2 holidays, including a floating holiday, and offers two weeks of vacation to start, increasing to four weeks after 14 years. There is a tuition reimbursement program; eligible employees receive a 100-percent tuition and books reimbursement for graduate courses. There has never been a layoff at BVSG.

Company-sponsored teams for softball, basketball, hockey, soccer, bowling, tennis, skeet shooting, and golf are available, as well as discounts on professional sports and performing arts events. Company-based teams participate in community activities for the United Way, Bloodmobile, Christmas in October, and other volunteer programs. Social activities include a winter holiday event and a summer picnic.

Black and Veatch is a private $2.15B engineering and construction firm with more than 8,000 professionals, based in Kansas City, Missouri. E.B. Black and N. T. Veatch founded the company in 1915. Management's adherence to the founders' standards of excellence continues to this day. Black & Veatch is one of the largest and most diversified engineering and construction firms in the world. It has completed more than 35,000 projects for some 6,500 clients in the areas of information technology, power, infrastructure, petrochemical, telecommunications, and high-tech facilities.

Its roots as an information technology provider can perhaps be traced to an engineer's love of detail and organization. Twenty years ago, Black & Veatch took a chance and allocated $30 million for the development of a computer automated power plant design and project management system. POWRTRAK redefined the approach to engineering, helping to reduce costs, shorten schedules, and improve quality by creating a set of common codes to identify categories of equipment such as pipes, valves, and fittings to replace the patchwork then in place in which suppliers each used their own codes and part numbers. Today, the POWRTRAK interdisciplinary system continues to ensure the integrity of data and documents through a single-entry database and structured document management approach.

BVSG, formed as a separate company in 1999, is the largest IT services provider in the Midwest, emphasizing its proprietary engineering approach as a competitive edge over competitors such as Andersen Consulting and EDS. In an industry where more than 85 percent of IT projects reportedly fail or are abandoned, a strict project methodology can be key in successful projects. Says Vaughan, "We follow a systematic, repeatable process to define the scope and establish the objectives for each project." This disciplined approach not only facilitates seamless execution, it scales with the exponential growth in the complexity of IT projects. As a result, BVSG's projects are completed on spec, on budget, and on schedule.

BVSG does hire entry-level professionals. A four-year college degree is preferred, but a two-year technical degree is also accepted. Technical staff members are organized in a project matrix style. Teamwork, the ability to plan and organize, and collaboration skills are key traits.

The company hired 170 technical professionals in the last year, of which 50 to 60 were for entry-level positions. They expect to hire 230 in the next year. Entry-level candidates are found through local technical schools and universities. Experienced candidates are found through job fairs, online recruiting (monster.com), and employee referrals (there is a bonus). Turnover is 11 percent.