Family business legacy takes center stage as Motz Engineering President and CEO Suzie Engel sits down with her father, business partner, and Vice President of Sales Mike Murdock. The two trace his path from a civil engineering degree at the University of Cincinnati through milestone projects like the Bell Atlantic Tower and the Kentucky Speedway, and the mentors who shaped him along the way.
Selling professional engineering services, Murdock explains, comes down to trust rather than price. He breaks sales down into three value propositions: relationship, cost and quality, and credits a teamwork, integrity and commitment framework borrowed from Turner Construction for keeping Motz Engineering top of mind with architects and owners long after a project wraps.
Strategic planning for engineering firms drives the second half of the conversation, as Murdock walks through why Motz Engineering deliberately chose markets like industrial, aviation, data centers, and healthcare instead of drifting into commoditized sectors. He and Engel also touch on how technology, from Revit and BIM to modern building controls, has reshaped the industry, and why the firm is already planning for life after the data center boom.
Engineering firm legacy planning closes out the episode as Murdock reframes legacy beyond the next project, pointing to his children, grandchildren, and the employees who will carry Motz Engineering forward. He and Engel reflect on nine years spent building repeatable processes inside the firm, and wrap with a few personal, quick-fire moments on flying, fishing, and family.
Key Takeaways
- Selling professional engineering services is about trust and relationships, not being the low bidder; clients need confidence in the team delivering the work.
- Every firm competes on some mix of relationship, cost and quality, and Motz Engineering leads with relationship first.
- Teamwork, integrity and commitment, a framework borrowed from Turner Construction, drives how Motz Engineering approaches every client relationship.
- Strategic planning means choosing markets deliberately- industrial, aviation, data centers, and healthcare- and planning now for the day the data center market cools.
- Legacy is bigger than the next project, it is the employees and their families the firm supports, which is why market pay and real bonuses matter.
- Repeatable process, not one-off effort, is what lets an engineering firm find mistakes, fix them and keep improving project after project.
Connect with Mike Murdock, Managing Principal, Motz Engineering:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-murdock-96757b15/
https://www.motzengineering.com/
Connect with Suzie Engel, President, Motz Engineering
https://www.motzengineering.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzie-engel/
