Page 37 - BusinessWest November 14, 2022

Blueprinting a Succession Plan Dietz & Co. Transitions into New Leadership, ESOP Status
By George O’Brien
As he talked about the transition in own- ership, and leadership, taking place at Springfield-based Dietz & Co. Architects, Jason Newman used the phrase ‘ease-in, ease-out mentality’ to describe the process.
By that he meant that Kerry Dietz, founder of the firm and its principal, has been easing out of the many responsibilities involved with leading this com- pany of nearly 30 employees and its many projects, while a team of four leaders — architects (and prin- cipals) Jason Newman, Lee Morrissette, and Kevin Riordan, and CFO Tina Gloster — have been easing into them.
That’s a simple yet efficient way of describing what’s been happening at the Dietz firm for roughly the past two years now as it transitions from a single owner to one with an employee stock-ownership plan, or ESOP, which is a form of employee benefit plan, similar in many ways to a profit-sharing plan.
“Kerry didn’t want to just hand us the keys and walk away, and we didn’t want her to do that either,” said Newman, who studied under her while earning his degree in architecture at UMass Amherst. “We’ve been in our new roles and taking on new responsi- bilities as principals in the firm, but we also have the comfort, and benefit, of Kerry being here on a limited basis to help guide us and mentor us and still bring all the positive energy she brings to the office, which
will sorely be missed when she finally steps away.”
And with Dietz, who is now working just a day or two a week, set to fully retire at the end of this year, the transition process is now pretty much complete, said Newman, adding quickly that those involved are still easing in or out in many respects, but settling into their new roles.
For Dietz, that means
the next stage of her life
after a more than 40-year
career in architecture that
saw her make her mark not
only in her field, but in the
city of Springfield, where she moved her firm into the renovated Union Station; and in the community, where she has been active and philanthropic, and made sure her company and its employees were as well. For this strong combination of business success and involvement in the community, Dietz became
a member of BusinessWest’s inaugural Women of Impact class in 2017.
For those succeeding her in leadership positions,
Staff Photo
From left, the new leadership team at Dietz & Co.: Kevin Riordan, Tina Gloster, Jason Newman, and Lee Morrissette.
it’s a time to write the next chapter for a company that has changed the landscape in the region, liter- ally, designing buildings across many different sec- tors, from housing to education; office to gaming (it designed many of the spaces at MGM Springfield).
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