Garver named a 2019 Top Workplace by The Oklahoman

Since Garver first opened its doors in Oklahoma 26 years ago, it has served a dual purpose of providing the state with innovative engineering services along with a positive workplace culture for the employees in charge of delivering those projects.

That unwavering commitment was honored recently, when Garver was named a Top Workplace for 2019 by The Oklahoman. The list, based on feedback from Garver employees working out of its three Oklahoma offices, recognized 90 companies and organizations throughout the state for their support of a healthy workplace culture.

Garver Transportation Team Leader Brent Schniers and Oklahoma Water Team Leader Mary Elizabeth Mach accepted the award during a gala on Dec. 3 at The Criterion in Oklahoma City.

Garver’s first Oklahoma office opened in 1993 in Tulsa, and that presence has steadily grown to now include offices in Norman and Oklahoma City. Today, almost 100 full-time employees work daily on infrastructure improvement projects for aviation, construction, environmental services, transportation, water, facilities design, and federal clients throughout the state.

During that time, Garver has also impacted the communities those projects serve. Since 2015, the firm’s corporate-giving arm GarverGives has contributed more than $572,000 to 319 organizations and employees have volunteered more than 1,500 hours of community service. In Oklahoma, that has included benefiting A New Leaf, a Broken Arrow-based organization that provides life skills and job training to those with developmental disabilities; Norman Food and Shelter; Earth Rebirth, a Norman-based nonprofit that educates by creating sustainable food, energy, and water; the Oklahoma Blood Institute; along with many others.

Garver also chose to start its Garver Chain Reaction Challenge in Lawton, Oklahoma last spring. To help celebrate its centennial in 2019, Garver donated STEM kits and funds and issued an engineering challenge to 100 schools across the country. Students were challenged to design a Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction machine that accomplishes a simple task in a complicated way, and then engineers from Garver judged the entrants. Pat Henry Elementary School in Lawton and Irving Middle School in Norman were chosen among the nine winners.  

Garver’s contribution to the state over almost three decades has included design of the I-244 multimodal bridge in downtown Tulsa, the in-progress design of the Gilcrease Expressway in Tulsa, design upgrades for the Norman Water Reclamation Facility, and Garver currently serves as lead designer and program manager of the Enid Kaw Lake Water Supply Program.

To learn more about Garver’s impact on Oklahoma, GarverUSA.com.