In April, CEC hosted its Annual Meeting, a cornerstone event that brings together employees from across our footprint to share information and align on business goals. Following last year’s record-breaking success for CEC, this year’s theme—“Elevate the Essentials”—framed two days of meaningful discussion and collaboration between our 300+ attendees. Held at The Westin in downtown Pittsburgh, the meeting focused on five overarching “essentials” — financial performance, project management, people, operations, and business development.
Several guest speakers were invited to share their insights with our attendees. Augustine Faucher, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at The PNC Financial Services Group, delivered his Economic Outlook presentation, providing insights into the current economic landscape and expectations for the year ahead. PNC has been providing this presentation at CEC’s Annual Meeting for several years, and it continues to be a highlight that team members look forward to.
We also heard from Joseph Yun, Director of Artificial Intelligence Enablement at the University of Pittsburgh and CEO and Co-Founder of bluefoxlabs.ai. Joseph’s presentation examined the growing role of artificial intelligence in business, emphasizing how organizations must embrace AI as an essential tool to stay competitive and thrive.
Rounding out our lineup was our keynote speaker, Dan Heath. Dan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author/co-author of six acclaimed business books. Dan’s presentation centered on his latest work, “Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working,” which was released in January 2025. Dan showed us a practical roadmap for diagnosing and fixing systemic challenges within our respective groups to create meaningful, lasting change.
“My favorite part of the conference is the same thing every year. I get to meet all these people that I’ve been lucky enough to work with across the country, and it’s just great to check in and chat with everybody.” – Adam Conti, P.E., Project Manager III, CEC Austin
Beyond the mainstage sessions, attendees engaged in focused breakout discussions. Meetings on day one explored “What differentiates us?” while day two built on Dan Heath’s insights from “Reset” to reflect on ways we can adapt and improve our operations.
Additionally, we welcomed a panel of CEC clients for a Q&A session. The panel, featuring representatives from RWE Clean Energy and Olympus Energy LLC, fostered valuable dialogue between our team and those we serve. Team members also participated in other panels focused on operations leadership and business development. And for our finale, employees teamed up in a CEC-themed game show.
“My favorite part is getting to see the direction the company is going in 2025 and hear about the new things that we plan to implement, as well as meet some really awesome people across our footprint.” – Tori Gallagher, Project Manager I, Nashville
Lastly, the event featured an evening reception at local restaurant Sienna Mercato, where team members enjoyed internal networking, food and drinks, an open rooftop bar, and live music.
Our Annual Meeting continues to be a valuable platform for us to connect, learn, and chart our path forward. This year’s gathering not only reinforced our commitment to “elevating the essentials” but also left us prepared to build on our momentum in the year ahead.
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