News & awards

When Columbus calls, it’s hard to say no.

Owners and architects there had been engaging Karpinski Engineering in interesting and challenging projects for almost as long as the company had been around. Principal Frank Eisenhower had been servicing Central Ohio clients for years, but as business kept expanding, the daily four- or five-hour round trip commute was becoming ever more grueling. To continue delivering clients the attention they deserved, by 2007 it was time for action.

Relocating his young family to the Columbus area, Frank was initially a one-man office. But it didn’t take long before word reached a former employee. A mentee under him while both had been in Cleveland, Sarah Terborg was now a senior mechanical project engineer in Arizona. When she heard about a new Columbus office, she immediately reached out to express how much she would love to move back east to her hometown, back to Karpinski, and back to working with him. The team’s foundation was set.

And before long...a contender

More work followed, but not without its challenges. However, the triple wins of the Loyola Center for Health at Burr Ridge IL, the Virginia National Guard’s Fort Pickett Regional Training Institute, and a new OSU Wexner Medical Center Ross Heart Hospital Electrophysiology Laboratory changed that decisively. Once the local A/E market realized our ability to land large work, Karpinski was recognized as serious contenders, and which attracted local engineering talent.

Even though Columbus could rely on the technical breadth and depth of the company as a whole, determining how to balance mothership support with local control was new to everyone -- not to mention encouraging good internal communication. Vital lessons were learned, and among them, the priority of nurturing company culture.

As workflow issues evened out, the office assembled a tight core of experienced engineers with an uncanny sense of collaboration. These folks in turn mentored new hires with a few years’ experience under their belt, along with fresh-faced college graduates showing a lot of promise. Before long, Columbus was cruising as one strong and united home-grown team.

Life is good

The expansion beyond those inaugural projects was fueled by Karpinski’s deep relationships across healthcare, higher education, corporate, and community. The Columbus client base diversified. In addition to sizable jobs for The Ohio State University, Capital University, Ohio University, Belmont College, Otterbein University, and University of Saint Francis, the office was soon working on fire stations for Delaware County and the Village of Granville, a new high school for Licking Heights, an expanded community center in Westerville, and Toledo Clinic’s new Cancer Center. Today, life in Cbus is good.

It has been observed how much fun Karpinski employees have – most particularly the Columbus office. Sarah Terborg has been one of the drivers of that comradery. From go-cart racing to axe-throwing to home beer brewing, she initiates countless fun activities, engages employees, and even encourages spouses’ participation. The result is that everyone in this office genuinely likes each other.

Fifteen years in Columbus, seven in Pittsburgh, 16 in Akron/Canton, 37 in Jamestown NY, and nearly 40 in Cleveland. Each piece is integrally part of the whole. A supportive environment where team members flourish. Opportunities to grow, experiences to be had. Karpinski actively strives to go beyond.