“The real competitive advantage in any business is one word only, which is people.” – Kamil Toume
As HagerSmith celebrates 40 years, we are celebrating the people who helped us get here. Our final spotlight features Scott Idol, the third person hired at the firm. After 38 years with HagerSmith, Scott reflects on its beginnings, its people, and the relationships that have shaped the work.
In 1980, Scott was nearing graduation and looking for a job when he found Mike Hager, PA. Apart from a part-time secretary shared with two other businesses, the firm was just Mike Hager and Jim Smith. Scott joined them soon afterward.
Work was limited in those early days, and everyone took on whatever needed to be done. Establishing a young firm was a challenge, but it also gave Scott experience across the business.
Design work looked different then, too. The team drew by hand at drafting tables, which made revisions difficult. Model-based design has since made the process faster. Scott jokes that the office may have one drafting table left as a relic; younger colleagues move through digital models with a speed that still impresses him.
Brick dominated the firm’s early projects. Rather than use it in the expected way, the team looked for more sculptural forms that would make each building distinct. That approach, paired with attentive client service, drew larger clients. HagerSmith began following some of them to projects across the country, and the firm grew.
For Scott, the people explain why the firm has lasted. Many colleagues have stayed 10, 15, or 20 years. HagerSmith has been his only full-time employer. He enjoys the people, the projects, and the clients—and says that, on most days, he likes coming to work.
He credits that loyalty to the way the firm looks after employees. During a difficult economy, its leaders focused on keeping the team together. Long relationships with colleagues have made the workplace feel like family.
Scott says clients get that same continuity. The people they meet at the start stay involved through the end of a project. He believes clients return because HagerSmith follows through, treats budgets carefully, and takes time to understand each client’s business and goals.
Understanding how a client’s company works is one of Scott’s favorite parts of the job. It gives the team the insight to shape a design around what that business needs.
Looking ahead from the firm’s 40th anniversary, Scott expects those relationships to keep growing. Some people HagerSmith first met as tenants through development projects later became clients themselves. As their needs grow, so do the projects they bring to the firm.