Professional Profile: Rick Steiner 2013

Name: Rick Steiner Title: Director of Site/Civil Engineering Company: VHB Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architecture, P.C. Location: Two Penn Plaza, Manhattan Birthplace: Calexico, California Education: University of Arizona (B.S. Civil Engineering - '89); Stevens Institute of Technology (M. Eng. Environmental Engineering - '97) First job outside of real estate: Yuma County (Arizona) Department of Public Works was my first job after finishing my undergraduate work at University of Arizona. Here I learned about designing and building transportation and civil infrastructure, water resource delivery and management, land subdivision and site plan review. First job in real estate or allied field: I spent the first eight years of my career on various construction sites that my previous firm was involved in. This time on construction sites provided me a practical sense of how engineering design is translated in the field. To this day I look back at lessons learned from that time and apply that thinking to what I do today. What do you do now and what are you planning for the future? I started with VHB in March this year. Together with senior management, we are preparing this office to become an integrated service provider—bringing together environmental planners, transit specialists, and civil and traffic engineers. Leveraging the resources and knowledge of our people and bringing that to our clients is the key to a successful future. How do you unwind from a busy day in real estate? My commute to and from my home in New Jersey, by train, provides me an hour before and after work. I use this time to close out the day and plan for the next one. Favorite book or author: "People Follow You" by Jeb Blount Favorite movie: "The Kings Speech" Last song you purchased/downloaded? The first songs I downloaded were from iTunes when it first came out; I haven't purchased any songs since then. I'm a big fan of internet radio and pay for a commercial free subscription to Pandora. One word to describe your work environment: Strategic and collaborative (whoops, that two words) Rules to live by in business: Add value to your clients' investment in you, show your people that you care and do the right thing. If you could invite one person to dinner lunch (living or dead) who would it be and where would you go? A brown bag lunch with Paul Tudor Jones - Founder of Robin Hood - on a park bench in Central Park.