Land Design South

David Wantman is always looking ahead, as he aggressively and strategically leads WGI into the future. The key is to strike just the right balance between the company’s associates and the needs of the clients.

“You can’t be stagnant,” explains Wantman, chief executive officer of WGI. “The company has to grow to allow our talent to grow. We also have to treat our clients really well, which means quickly meeting their expectations, even on the largest, most complex projects.”

Wantman has long understood the intricacies of running the civil engineering company that his father founded. At 13, he was copying blueprints for the business and just a year later joined one of the survey crews. Now that Wantman’s name is on the door and his reputation on the line, he is at the center of delivering every quality project on budget and on time, if not before. These are values he is passionate about and strives to instill in everyone.

“We strive to be smarter, work harder and make decisions quicker than our competitors,” he adds. “We achieve that by hiring really good people who want to win and be successful in their careers. That’s the culture here.”

That same competitive spirit drives Wantman in his leisure activities. It’s only natural that he excels at snow skiing, a sport that requires extraordinary balance and vision to reach the bottom of the mountain—or in his case, the top of the mountain.

“The built environment and the process by which we envision, design, and build infrastructure is rapidly changing. In a time of global competitiveness, urbanization, infrastructure investment shortfalls, and a focus on resilience, we must change the way we think about delivering our services. My vision is to build from the expertise, culture, and leadership of WGI, to create a culture of innovation and excellence which embraces trends like digitization, autonomy, computing capabilities, and artificial intelligence to be key differentiators.”

“The information systems at WGI enable us to seamlessly and efficiently communicate with the same speed and availability on both a local and global scale. Through state-of-the-art software, collaboration efforts empower our project teams to share, distribute and manage project content in a way that puts everyone on the same platform and creates a dynamic synergy leading to successful outcomes.”

The smoother it runs, the more efficient WGI can be. That’s where Mario Echagarrua comes in. As executive vice president, chief operating officer, his primary responsibility is to assess every project and make certain that it’s properly staffed and that there are no surprises.

It’s a tall order because WGI is adding divisions, expanding others, and pursuing even larger projects. Echagarrua doesn’t have a road map to follow because COO is a brand-new position at WGI, and more essential than ever as the company continues its rapid growth.

“I really like the fact that you can make a decision without bureaucratic red tape or second-guessing,” says Echagarrua, who earned his engineering degree at the University of Miami. “Everyone works hard but really enjoys it. That kind of atmosphere is appealing.”

Echagarrua will have his hands full as WGI expands throughout Florida and increases business in areas such as landscape architecture, traffic engineering, and bridge design. No matter what the challenge or deadline, Echagarrua is confident that he can keep the operation running smoothly.

After all, he’s had the best training possible—“I have five kids.”

There’s no stopping Michael Davis. As Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer of WGI, he’s responsible for helping drive the firm’s growth, and he only knows one way to accomplish that—with the pedal to the metal.

“I’m able to juggle a lot of things at once and still make good decisions,” says Davis, whose passion away from work is racing his Porsche. “Being able to instantly process all sorts of information is an attribute of every great racecar driver and businessman.”

Davis brings an impressive track record to WGI. He has a Master’s Degree in Biology, has worked for the White House under President Bill Clinton, and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army where he was responsible for all Army Corps of Engineers policy and legislation. In this role he helped lead the development of the Everglades restoration plan. Davis also served at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior, both senior environmental policy positions.

“Regulations can be complicated,” explains Davis, “but WGI can help our clients get through the process, saving them time and money and without them becoming frustrated. Rarely do you have to choose between the environment and sustainable development.”

Communication is another key to building strong business relationships and successfully completing projects, so Davis focuses on keeping clients in the loop every step of the way. To accelerate WGI’s growth, he spends his days reaching out to potential new clients, managing the firm’s expansion, and passionately implementing its strategic plan. Like every good racer, Davis drives fast, brakes hard, and stays focused.

“It has been one of my professional objectives for my entire career to not be one of those ‘cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.’ Growth is an imperative and it is part of what makes WGI’s company culture so special. Growth immediately helps our clients by providing more resources and more project and technical experience. Growth creates opportunities throughout our organization for our team members, and ultimately it creates opportunities within our communities.”

“The culture at WGI is exceptionally positive because the employees are bright, hard-working and truly respect each other. My challenge is to continue to recruit high-quality people by attracting them with the most competitive programs of benefits, compensation and training. WGI places great value on its people and maintaining a positive corporate atmosphere is essential, especially as Florida’s employment market shifts.”

“My role in the firm is to oversee marketing and business development efforts including proposal production, client retention and seeking out new business opportunities. WGI has the resources and diversity in services to support our marketing and business development efforts and I can always rely on the staff to provide the technical assistance when needed to market both new and existing clients. WGI invests heavily in state-of-the-art equipment, which allows us to provide our clients with a superior product at competitive costs.”

“I provide leadership in office management and all areas connected with the smooth and profitable operation of the firm. Working with WGI’s talented team of professionals is very rewarding to me. Their ideas, ingenuity and camaraderie positively shape the community I live in.”