May/June 2019

Communities: Private Practice
Omaha PE Took Big Risk, Found Big Rewards

Daniel Thiele, P.E.

• Chief Executive Officer, Thiele Geotech Inc.; Omaha, Nebraska
• Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska
• More than 30 years of experience and licensed in 23 states
• Serves on the Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects
• Past president of the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers Education Foundation

When Daniel Thiele, P.E., began thinking about starting his own business, he had a satisfying vice president position at a geotechnical company. But the NSPE member could no longer ignore what he describes as a “burning in my belly” to be his own boss. “Within a year I quit a great job, took a risk, and started my own firm,” he explains. In January 1996, Thiele Geotech Inc. was born in Omaha, Nebraska.

More than 20 years later, Thiele serves as chief executive officer for the firm of 65 employees, including engineers, geologists, technicians, and support staff. The company provides geotechnical, materials testing, and environmental services. This year, Thiele was recognized for his leadership and civic engagement with the 2019 Charles Durham Achievement Award, named after the late chairman and CEO of an international firm headquartered in Omaha who was active in the local engineering and civic community.

Thiele describes the leap into entrepreneurship as “a bit scary starting off,” as he immediately had to go into high gear to set up and remodel an office. Plus, he had to assertively network and line up work for his new venture. After the first month, Thiele hired his first employee, and within a year he had eight. “I took risks and hoped I could generate the work. I was fortunate enough to be able to do this fairly quickly,” he says. His firm was recognized as one of the fastest-growing businesses in Omaha in 2001.

THIELE GEOTECH PROVIDED GEOTECHNICAL EXPLORATION AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS TESTING FOR THE AREA OF THE OMAHA ZOO CONTAINING THE ALASKAN ADVENTURE SPLASH PARK.

Thiele’s business philosophy is that a firm should do quality work and effectively engage its clients, strategies he believes have led to a 97% return rate for clients. “If you’re not delivering the solutions that they need to help make their projects viable, you’re not going to get a callback for the next project,” he says. “We have the attitude of ‘their success is our success.’ It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

One of the toughest professional lessons that Thiele has learned as an entrepreneur involved the challenges of conducting a business merger. Thiele saw an opportunity for modest growth with a firm that provided complementary services. “That was a difficult process, to merge two groups of people who have somewhat different business cultures and get everyone working towards the same goals,” he recalls. “It took time to build trust, but luckily within a year things started to proceed more smoothly.”

Thiele’s firm does quite a bit of the typical infrastructure projects and utilities work. However, one of his favorite clients is the Omaha Zoo, which has allowed the staff to work on more creative projects. “Nothing at the zoo fits the mold of anything that we normally do,” he explains. “Every project is unique.”

ELEPHANT HABITAT WITHIN THE AFRICAN GRASSLANDS EXHIBIT

In 2002, for the zoo’s Hubbard Gorilla Valley project, Thiele and his staff helped to create a two-acre space designed to make it appear as if the humans are the ones that are on display for the gorillas. “This particular project compelled us to use more creative engineering design solutions to deal with a complex structure in an area with nonuniform soil conditions,” he recalls. The firm has also worked on projects associated with the zoo’s Asian Highlands and African Grasslands exhibits.

Outreach is a top business and personal priority for Thiele. His firm helps to develop and mentor small emerging businesses through an economic inclusion program, which gives the companies opportunities to work on projects that will help to build up their portfolios. He also recently served as president of the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers Education Foundation, which has been pivotal in funding local MATHCOUNTS activities.

A focal point of Thiele’s leadership is coaching and mentoring young engineers. The CEO advises them on developing good decision-making skills to improve project management and client relationship building. “Engineers will often be paralyzed by the tendency to study something to death,” says Thiele. “When [young engineers] make a wrong decision, we use it as a learning opportunity to help them make better decisions. We encourage them to continuously learn, develop, and grow.”

LEFT: THIELE GEOTECH PERFORMED A GEOTECHNICAL EXPLORATION DURING DESIGN OF THE LION VIEWING AREA IN THE AFRICAN GRASSLANDS EXHIBIT AT THE OMAHA ZOO. THE FIRM ALSO PROVIDED QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL TESTING OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 28-ACRE EXHIBIT. RIGHT: THIELE GEOTECH PROVIDED GEOTECHNICAL EXPLORATION SERVICES DURING DESIGN OF THE INTERACTIVE TREE HOUSE WITHIN THE CHILDREN’S ADVENTURE TRAILS EXHIBIT

IN THE ELEPHANT HABITAT AND AFRICAN LODGE AREA (AFRICAN GRASSLANDS EXHIBIT) THIELE GEOTECH DESIGNED THE DEEP EXCAVATION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEARBY LIFE SUPPORT BUILDING. THE FIRM ALSO DESIGNED GEOGRID REINFORCED WIRE-BASKET RETAINING WALLS THAT PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE “MUD-WALLS” THROUGHOUT THE EXHIBIT.