VK Civil has been blessed over the past ten years by a calm and steady leader who has a passion for passing on his craft to the next generation of engineers. Colin Finch is a man who cannot help but expound on his desire to know and pour into future engineers. He is someone others praise as a humble and devoted teacher. He has been upheld as a model of professionalism and character.
Coming from a family of engineers, Colin always envisioned putting his natural aptitude for math and science into use in the “family business.” Graduating from Calvin College in 2009, Colin found his first engineering job at the Indiana DNR and then moved to a small firm specializing in site development in Indianapolis.
While growing tremendously through this period of his career, Colin and his wife began to contemplate moving back to Michigan. Ultimately, they did so. Colin decided to follow up on a job lead providentially offered by a friend, and Colin joined the VK Civil team in 2016.
Colin started his time with VK Civil working as a municipal engineer as well as assisting with construction observation management. During this time, he discovered his gift for working with people, as he enjoyed collaborating with and getting to know contractors and observers in the field.
Colin’s career began to shift once again with the hiring of Dan Lewis in 2021. Given his prior experience in private civil site development, Colin began working increasingly with Dan on growing the private side of VK Civil’s operations.
As VK Civil began hiring younger civil engineers with little industry experience, Colin was excited by the opportunity to exercise and grow in his capacity as a mentor and teacher. Specifically, the challenge and joy of discovering where others’ strengths lie, building upon those, and finding a place for those abilities is something Colin speaks passionately about. One younger engineer Colin mentored specifically expressed his appreciation for Colin’s patience while correcting mistakes and Colin’s skill in explaining many of the fundamentals of civil engineering.
Colin is grateful for his time at VK Civil. He loves the variety of skills and personalities unified by shared values. As Colin put it, “At VK Civil, core values are not just an idea.”
As an exemplar of VK Civil’s core values of virtue, a well-lived life, others as ourselves, and stewardship, Colin Finch has been a blessing to VK Civil for ten years, and Lord willing, many more. Happy ten years, Colin!
