New Center of Excellence

Happy Friday!

Last week, the book. This week, the other shoe drops …in the best possible way.

I'm pleased and excited to announce that I'm behind the opening of a new Center of Excellence consulting office in Reno, Nevada, in partnership with West Yost Associates, a highly respected 250-person firm specializing in high-end water engineering with which I've been involved since its founding.

Why Reno? Why now? Reno is the perfect strategic launchpad to define the future of engineering consulting. It's home to a booming tech and innovation ecosystem (home to major operations from Tesla, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and many more), with direct access to the University of Nevada, Reno's outstanding STEM talent pipeline.

In the years ahead, where you live and the quality of life are going to matter even more. Just 30-45 minutes away, breathtaking Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada mountains offer world-class outdoor recharge. There’s no state income tax, no soul-crushing traffic, just a vibrant, active "Blue Zone" lifestyle with ~300 sunny days a year. (It's also where many from Silicon Valley have been quietly relocating for exactly these reasons.)

Outside Magazine ranked Reno #1 on their 2023 list of "The 15 Happiest Places to Live in the U.S.", citing boundless outdoor access, community, a growing cultural scene, and modern boomtown energy.

This Center of Excellence will support water agencies regionally and throughout the West, and will be defined by its pursuit of mastery and self-actualization, not financial metrics.

We'll reimagine from first principles what a high-impact consulting practice should look like in the AI era and stay ahead of it, surfing the wave of innovation rather than being disrupted by it. Excellent service to the public is always the North Star. Think of it as the live embodiment of the philosophies and approaches presented in Good News Friday every week. GNF live.

This is an RFI, a Request for (Your) Interest, no matter where you happen to be.

• If you're in Northern Nevada and want to be and work with the best.
• If you're considering relocating to this incredible spot.
• If you're interested in working remotely or being affiliated in some way. All options are on the table: full-time, part-time, retired, on-call, hybrid, strategic alliances, teams, or creative cross-industry collaborations (e.g., environmental, tech, startups, or young hot-shot Claude Coders with fresh skills).
• A firm commitment to the public and excellence in both character and capability are required.

Punchline: If you're really good at what you do (or will work to be), are willing to think differently, operate from first principles, and can thrive without a ceiling, this is the platform. It will validate why you took the tougher path and chose this profession in the first place. There's only one way to find out. Let’s have a chat and see if we can make 1+1=3. The range of possibilities here is wider than you imagine.

Making 2026 a positive step forward,

Dave

P.S. I’ll be sending out occasional updates on our progress. So if this isn’t the right time or you’re unsure, send me a note, and I'll include you on the email list.

Feedback and blowback are always welcome: dave@goodnewsfriday.com

All 150+ topics are available at @goodnewsfriday.com

Good News Friday: Successful Engineering Consulting, both hardback and Kindle, is on Amazon. 😄