29 years ago today, Bruce and Dwain officially founded DLA Architects.
They and their partners hosted a luncheon at the office to celebrate.
In the opening speech, on behalf of all the partners, Eric Sickbert said “We understand the importance of each of you in accomplishing what we are doing here at DLA. If it wasn’t for all of you doing what you do, with such excellence, we wouldn’t have the success that we had or have. Thanks go to everyone here. Each of you do matter in making DLA successful.”
The DLA Leadership Team also took the opportunity to recognize this year’s employee milestones:
Eric Kretschmer celebrated his 5 year anniversary last year on December 11.
Eric has been part of our elite team of licensed architects leading numerous difficult projects. Eric works with Crystal Lake School District, Mendota, Westminster and Cantigny Park. For each client Eric has delivered great service and successful projects.
An Illinois School Code expert, Eric took on U46 life safety surveys for all 50 + buildings and using his outstanding management abilities did an outstanding job; not a small task.
One of the most exciting projects Eric has completed was the Birnberg residence, a multimillion dollar internationally designed residence with unique and difficult details. In all his work, the final results are satisfied clients.
Shannon Baird celebrated her 10 year anniversary last year on April 29.
Shannon is a member of our exceptional team of architects.
One of her major accomplishments was a renovation project at one of the oldest, largest buildings in School District U46. It was a very successful project with everyone very pleased with the outcome of their working environment.
Since then she has taken the lead role on the teams for ECC and FRWRD. Those projects are going well, too.
Wendy Covich celebrated her 15 year anniversary last year on October 28.
Wendy is a social media guru, a great asset to the marketing team and her personality and fresh ideas are always welcomed and greatly appreciated.
She has a unique, creative, perspective that pushes the envelope of our standard thinking and makes us pause and think.
That is always important; Bringing new and different ideas to the table is not only important to the marketing team but to all of our office.
Alex Romanovsky as of January reached his 15 years working with DLA.
Alex operates as our resident ER doctor of graphic design.
He is ready to take on any challenge at the drop of a hat and he is prepared to dig in and make sure he can do everything in his power to see that our best image is illustrated.
Often faced with deadlines or project schedules beyond his control, Alex handles it well and maintains his cool.
Matt Stoub will be working with us 5 years in May.
Matt is a skilled job captain with many talents. He excels in managing multiple projects with multiple architects giving him direction.
Matt is very dedicated and always willing to put in the extra effort to get a project out to meet the strenuous time schedules that we sometimes have. His documents and details provide limited questions in the field indicating his talent in producing details and creating excellent working drawings.
A key contributor in the DLA Social Committee, Matt ensures office events take off without a hitch and works to keep office morale high.
A rising star in the design area of architecture, Matt played a major role in the design of our new office, as well as the new offices for MAXIMUM Independent Brokerage.
Arturo Benitez will be working with us 5 years in July.
A member of our exceptional team of architects Arturo has a magical briefcase that carries the paper correspondence answer to any contractor or client question. He is amazingly organized and detail oriented which is evident by his clients’ accolades.
Arturo has been working almost exclusively at Ridgewood School District which has been necessary in order to manage the behemoth, multi-year, multi phased, inter-governmental project.
Through it all he has seen great success and Ridgewood truly enjoys working with him. His continued responsiveness to their needs is a great reflection on DLA.
Charmaine Lowe will be working with us 10 years in June.
A skilled job captain, Charmaine is extremely flexible, able to manage multiple projects with multiple architects that are asking for her time. Her abilities allow the architects she is working for, to sleep better at night knowing she is on their job.
She was part of the team on the Aurora Early Learning Center, giving that project her all.
Recently she has completed the Lockport East addition, working very hard to create a great set of working documents. You can’t ask for anything more than a set of tight working drawings that can hold up through the “line of fire” of the construction process. Charmaine’s drawings did an excellent job in accomplishing that.
Each of these talented individuals was recognized for their service to DLA. Those celebrating a 5 year anniversary received a key chain, a glass cube for the 10 year, and a clock for the 15 year anniversary. These gifts are a symbol that reflects to each employee that they have accomplished something important during their time here with DLA.
Why did you choose a career in architecture?
