Michael Becker Earns 2019 Professional Practitioner of the Year Honor
Michael Becker knows what clients want because he’s been in the clients’ shoes before and understands their needs. For him, aviation has always been a part of who he is.
“I grew up on Air Force bases across the country and spent a lot of that time watching airplanes and hanging out on the flight line,” said Michael. “Today jet blast and avgas are still two of my most favorite things.”
Michael has been an aviation planning consultant and project manager with RS&H since 2006. He takes on many different roles and adapts as needed to perform those roles. He can be acting as a technical aviation planner one minute and transition into managing and administrating large-scale and long-range planning efforts the next.
“Mike is one of those guys that always has time for you,” said Aviation planner Peter Maiman. “He will put his work aside and gives you 100 percent of his attention.”
A Pleasure to Work With
He has taken on the responsibility of performing quarterly review sessions for Northwest Mountain Planning Service Group (NWMPSG) associates, which help him assist associates course correct career goals when needed. Because of his work with these associates, they are thriving and performing gratifying work.
“Mike is far more interested in offering clients and colleagues the best solution to an issue than he is in winning any personal points,” said Aviation planner Kelsey Reeves. “This selfless nature makes him an ideal leader and pleasure to work with associates from all disciplines.”
Since starting at RS&H, Michael has been a part of 163 projects, taking the role as project manager for 18 of them. Michael is currently working on three projects including the Salt Lake International Airport, Centennial Airport and Provo Airport Master Plans.
Michael takes a planning perspective that he looks at today, as well as the vision from 20 years from today, and sees the process which guides a chaotic set of circumstances and stakeholder opinions toward a flexible, financially feasible path forward and that is one of the qualities that clients like best about him.
He is often called out of the blue by airport directors for advice and counsel, even if the company doesn’t have an active contract with the client.
“I want to say it was a total pleasure working with Mike and his team on the master plan. The product we received far exceeds the master plans in the past,” said Eugene Airport Assistant Director, Catheryn Stephens.
Awards & Recognition
Michael is a certified planner (AICP) with the American Planning Association and a certified member of the American Association of Airport Executives. He was awarded the Planner of the Year, awarded by the Western Planner for his work at Juneau International Airport in 2018.
Michael is always looking to improve himself and assist others in improving themselves. Under his leadership, every planner in the NWMPSG has identified areas of interest and is provided opportunities to pursue discipline expertise in those areas. What is Michael’s motivation?
“The people I work with push me to finish a task, dive deeper into the research, or make a critical decision,” said Michael. “I have the opportunity to work with such great people here, and I never want to let any of them down.”
He has spearheaded multiple initiatives involving a variety of different planning associates to develop standards for the Planning Service Group, which elevate and maintain the RS&H brand consistency for deliverables.
“He has participated on a committee to incorporate geographic information systems into aviation planning and is a leader and user of the Teamwork program used by RS&H, subconsultants and clients to keep track of task lists for projects,” said Senior Aviation Designer Tammy Merrill.
Raising Awareness
For several years, Michael has been championing the No Shave November movement, which was started to bring awareness to men’s health issues, in the Denver office. Using the company intranet, he has expanded his reach to other offices across the company’s footprint. Together, they raised over $10,000 for the Movember Foundation last year.
“Strong leaders are those who can inspire and motivate those around them. Mike is an excellent example of a strong leader,” said Aviation planner Steven Derengowski. “He inspires those by being enthusiastic and by being an active listener. This helps to build the confidence and skills for the associates around him. He motivates people by appealing to their interests and working with associates to understand their needs and desires.”
Learn more about how Michael and the rest of our Aviation team can elevate your next project.