'Career and community' make IEA Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives a Top Workplace

In the rapidly evolving world of renewable energy construction, each day brings with it new challenges.

“I love that two days are just not the same,” said Morgan Murphy, marketing and communications specialist at IEA Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives. “I’m always learning something about the industry. It’s such a fun industry to be a part of, especially right now.”

Employees surveyed said they find the varied work at IEA challenging and rewarding. And where change keeps things interesting, a key constant that makes the company an attractive place to work is its focus on retaining and developing its people, said Trevor Kolden, an estimator at IEA.

“You can start as a laborer and work your way up quite quickly,” Kolden said, who moved from Montana to Indiana to take a job with IEA about three years ago. “I’ve looked at this job as a career from the start.”

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Kolden describes leadership at the company as approachable, and open to others’ ideas. “You really do feel like you’re heard on projects that you work on,” he said. IEA, which received its first Top Workplaces nod this year, got a special award for leadership, reflecting the confidence surveyed employees have in their higher-ups.

Saysha Cooper, HR and diversity compliance data analyst at IEA, said her work takes her to a lot of different departments within the company, and that everyone is welcoming. “It’s a community,” she said.

Cooper echoes other employees in seeing an openness at the company to different perspectives, which dovetails with her work in diversity. “It’s more about learning from one another, and you have to be willing to do that,” she said.

Employees say they feel respected and seen as whole people. “You’re treated very well as an employee and as a person,” Murphy said. “People just care about who you are and what you’re doing.”

That type of interest in the whole person begins with IEA not dismissing people who don’t have a construction background at the recruitment stage, Kolden said. He says the company also considers things like worth ethic and a person’s ability to learn and grow.

For those who’ve come aboard, Kolden said the company is committed to making IEA a professional home, and treats employees accordingly — making it all the more likely employees will show the same loyalty to the company.

Kolden, for one, likes where he’s at and looks forward to growing professionally with the company. “I’ve been really happy here,” he said.

Bottom Line

• Founded: 2011
• Central Indiana locations: 3 (1 in Indianapolis, 1 in Westfield; 1 in Clinton, Indiana)
• Description: Infrastructure construction company specializing in renewable energy and heavy civil construction
• Employees in Central Indiana: 545 (across all three locations and remote workers who report to the Indy office)

Michael Schroeder is a local freelance consumer journalist.