Cotter Consulting, Inc.
Founded: 1990
Location: Chicago, IL

Tell us about your career leading up to where you are now:

I was born and raised in Chicago. After high school, I attended Bradley University where I studied construction management. From there, I went to work for a large engineering firm doing construction management in power plants. Eventually, I moved back to Chicago, where I decided to make a career shift into the project management world, and that is when I officially joined Cotter Consulting which was July of 2015. Cotter Consulting was founded 32 years ago by my mother, Anne Edwards-Cotter who is still the CEO and President to this day and is still regularly active with the business. Once in the business I worked on numerous projects such as, but not limited to transportation related projects, projects at O'Hare and various utility related programs and projects. At the time I was the Vice President of Energy and Project Controls, and as of January of this year I was officially promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Along with my mother, my brother Bill is also involved in the company, and serves as the Vice President General Council and Federal Services.

What do you like most about what you do?

I like the people that I work with, I love our clients. Having long-standing clients is a testament to the effort that we put in. There is something fun about each project where there is a tangible result, whether it be a building or a road or a electrical infrastructure. Solving problems is a big part of what we do. We deal with issues that are both technical and non-technical in nature, and both need to be addressed to bring a project to fruition, which is, for me, the fun part of what we do.

How did you hear about the EFBC?

Originally Ann [CEO] sent me information on the organization. At that point, I looked at a couple of other organizations and felt EFBC was the best fit for me. I really liked the format and the intent of the programming. There was no set curriculum that was meant to be followed and the focus was around soft skill development, with a focus being on Emotional Intelligence (EI) as well as personal development; communication and leadership.

Why did you join, and what do you hope to gain from your membership?

I think I am mainly looking to expand my network of people that I know and to really learn and share experiences from other individuals that have been in the same place that I am currently in. I currently share leadership with my brother, or will soon, which is a unique experience that all business owners do not face, so being able to share experiences with other family business owners really helped my decision to join EFBC. I hope to be able to use shared experiences and other skills developed at EFBC to overcome interpersonal challenges within the business and to continue to grow and strengthen the business.

Join us in welcoming Patrick to the EFBC community. Members can log in and connect with Patrick via the EFBC Member Directory.

Share This: