Steve Metzger

CEO, LaBella Associates DPC

Years in current role: 2

What was your biggest success in 2021?

2021 was another year of significant growth for LaBella Associates. In a year hampered by the pandemic, we grew by roughly 30% in both revenue and numbers of employees, now at approximately 1,300. We saw remarkable performance in many of our markets and across all of our service lines, including architecture, engineering, program management, power, renewables, environmental, and transportation, making 2021 an outstanding year for us. We solved a lot of problems for our clients in 2021!

What are your expectations for 2022?

With our current momentum coming out of 2021, backlog at an all-time high, and being well-positioned to take advantage of the recently passed infrastructure bill, we feel that 2022 will be another strong year for us. We are excited to implement strategies identified under the four pillars of our recently published 2025 strategic plan — culture, growth, clients, and structure — and to continue succeeding for our clients and employees

What is your biggest takeaway from dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic?

That politics and media can sure make a mess of things if we let them. Early on, in the environment of mixed messaging from governmental leadership, we recognized the critical need to be honest and forthcoming with our employees and place their safety at the forefront of any decisions we make.

What is your favorite thing about the Rochester community?

It’s big enough without being too big. We have many outstanding and unique educational, cultural and natural resources to enjoy and very little traffic!

If time were no issue, what would you do to help the community that you aren’t already doing?

I would lean toward activities involving teaching, coaching, or mentoring where I think I can be effective and enjoy them too.

This profile is part of Rochester Business Journal's Power 100 list for 2022. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. View the full list at rbj.net.