Congratulations to Survey Operations Manager Cody McCuean on being June’s Values in Action winner! Cody was an absolute rockstar with this year’s Isett All-Associates summer picnic. You never would have known it was his first time helping to plan and run the event. He jumped in on several committees and took ownership of numerous components—from game setup and coordination to volunteering in the dunk tank. He went above and beyond in his support, and his assistance was greatly appreciated.
A typical day for Cody begins at 6 a.m. Despite not being a morning person, he’s up with his daughter Maclyn and is on childcare duty while his wife Kayla puts in a couple hours of work. Come 8 a.m., the two switch roles, and Cody is either in the office (Tuesday–Thursday) or working from home (Monday/Friday). First order of business is making sure his team has their tasks for the day and catching up on emails. The rest of the day is filled with client catchups and CAD assistance to keep projects moving forward. As Operations Manager, he ensures the Survey team in the Lehigh Valley is operating on all cylinders, that team needs are met, and workload is evenly distributed. He chases more work to keep feeding the machine and makes sure the team’s output aligns with our QA/QC standards. Once Cody’s back at home, he enjoys a meal with his family and quality time until 7:30 p.m. when it’s time to put Maclyn to bed. He and Kayla enjoy an episode or two of a TV show before she goes to bed. Then, Cody cleans up from the day and starts on his MBA classwork. He hopes to hit the pillow by midnight, but that’s not always the case!
This may not be a typical surveyor response, but Cody prefers anything but field work. He enjoys getting lost in research, which turns into drafting deeds, then processing fieldwork, resolving the boundary, and then making the map. Before he knows it, six hours have passed. If he had to pick which part he enjoys the most, it would be the boundary resolution itself. Properties are like a puzzle, and surveyors need to determine the proper fit. Cody notes a few projects he’s working on: providing horizontal and vertical monitoring at Ergon in Reading to make sure the building isn’t shifting while a nearby retaining wall is being reconstructed; putting together easements for Industrial Archives & Library in Bethlehem as they look to clean up the five lots they own and make sure a few are ready for sale to current tenants; and performing fieldwork on the Evonik project to assist our Civil team with the design of a new walkway that will run along Hamilton Boulevard in Allentown.
Since coming to Isett, Cody has really enjoyed having the ability to serve. There seems to be an unlimited number of opportunities to give back to the community, and it’s not always work. A few months back, he and some other Isett members played basketball to help raise money for The Salvation Army. He might have had a sore arm the next day, but it was great to be a part of something that gives back and to know that people are benefiting from what we do.