When high school student Rick Conner was hired in 1971 at the small Indianapolis consulting engineering firm that would become American Structurepoint, he had no idea it was the start of a career journey that would take him from an engineering assistant’s drafting table to the CEO’s office and give him the opportunity to help build a leading multidisciplinary design firm with clients and projects across the Midwest and beyond.

All he cared about at the time, Conner recalls, was that he was “employee No. 12,” doing work he found truly fascinating. The credit for his vocation goes to his father, an Indianapolis businessman who understood that his son likely would not follow in his footsteps, the CEO contends.

“I was more interested in tinkering and making things in the basement than learning about his world,” Conner explains. “He turned me over to Jim Wurster, who just a few years earlier had co-founded American Consulting Engineers. They did architecture, site-civil engineering and surveying work for the city, the Indiana Dept. of Transportation and several local developers.”

American Structurepoint designed its first roundabout at 126th Street and Hazel Dell Parkway in 1997 in Carmel, Ind.
Photo courtesy of American Structurepoint

By the time Conner earned his civil engineering degree from Purdue University in 1976, he was working on every kind of project that came the company’s way, gaining valuable experience that would provide a continually expanding foundation for more complex and challenging assignments to come.

“For me, our company was a place of endless opportunities,” he recalls. “I always felt welcome to chase my dreams and that my ideas were valued.”

As the years went by, Conner took on leadership responsibilities as a project manager and executive. Four years after becoming a company partner in 1987, he was named president and chief operating officer.

Since then, Conner has demonstrated that he may have inherited a few of his father’s business genes after all. The company, renamed American Structurepoint in 2006 to reflect its broader focus, has evolved from a 50-person, Indiana-focused enterprise with $3 million in annual revenue to one with a staff of more than 700 in 11 disciplines with 17 offices and design centers in seven states, including Florida and Texas. Reporting 2023 revenue of more than $163 million, the firm ranked at No. 156 on ENR’s most recent Top 500 Design Firms list. It also regularly ranks among the nation’s top providers of transportation and manufacturing design services.

Under Conner’s leadership, American Structurepoint has been involved in a host of high-profile projects, including the $175-million Super 70 reconstruction program in Indianapolis, detailed final design of the $100-million Indiana approach of the Ohio River Bridges East End Crossing and the $800-million Segment 3 of the I-66 Express Lanes project in Virginia. The latter effort is particularly close to Conner’s heart since the American Structurepoint-designed complex interchange with the I-495 Capital Beltway was the cover photo for ENR’s 2022 feature story on the project.

Conner also has guided American Structurepoint’s successful entry into new service areas, with initiatives that include establishing an investigative services group and offering information technology, marketing and communications services to clients. A new phase in his career began in 2024 when, along with other executive-level changes, Conner took on the CEO role, with 27-year company veteran Cash Canfield assuming the duties of president.

American Structurepoint created an innovative solution to convert a state highway, the Keystone Parkway, into a four-lane expressway in Carmel.
Photo courtesy of American Structurepoint

A Lifetime of Listening and Learning

Conner says regardless of size and complexity, every project American Structurepoint takes on receives the same attention to detail. Perhaps the best illustration of that principle occurred in 1997 when Carmel, Ind.’s newly elected mayor, Jim Brainard, hired the firm to design roundabouts to replace two signalized intersections on the Hazel Dell Parkway.

The fact that American Structurepoint had never designed a roundabout, and the absence of national standards for such intersections at the time, made no difference to Conner.

“I came back to the office and told the team that our client is passionate about them, so let’s figure it out,” he recalls.

American Structurepoint has since designed dozens of Carmel’s more than 150 roundabouts—more than any other city in the U.S. Among them are six grade-separated configurations located along the four-mile Keystone Parkway corridor, one of which Conner’s team adapted from a two-bridge design Brainard had seen while overseas. Using a “double-teardrop” layout on a single structure, the crossing required less land than more conventional designs, with the added benefits of enhanced safety and lower construction costs.

“Rick saw an idea and made it better, which is the sign of a good engineer,” says Brainard, who recently stepped down as Carmel’s mayor. “He and his company always learned from the last project on how to improve on the next one.”

Brainard adds that Conner’s communication skills complement his technical acumen, particularly when a project encounters public scrutiny and other challenges.

“If there’s a problem or costs go up, he doesn’t hide from it,” Brainard says. “He tackles it head-on and is very clear about the reasons and solutions. That’s something public officials and the public truly appreciate.”

Conner mentors students from the DREAM Alive organization, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit serving urban youth in at-risk communities.
Photo courtesy of American Structurepoint

Noblesville, Ind., Mayor Chris Jensen likewise praises Conner for his willingness “to dive in, roll up his sleeves and understand the complexities of major infrastructure projects,” adding that Conner’s project teams reflect his leadership. “They go into the fire.”

Jensen points to American Structurepoint’s role as lead designer responsible for managing the planning and design of a multifaceted infrastructure program called Reimagine Pleasant Street. Contemplated for more than 40 years, the $125-million effort to improve mobility along the 2.5-mile east-west corridor required reconciling a host of complexities, ranging from incorporating new infrastructure into a historic district to construction of a new bridge across the White River. The program’s first phase was completed after two years of construction in late 2024, with the remaining two phases set to be complete in 2025.

Jensen says it was critical that American Structurepoint’s project team understood community sentiments and feelings associated with the proposed improvements. Having Conner and his wife, Penny, as longtime Noblesville residents, was a good head start.

“Without him, I think this project would’ve been more complex,” Jensen says. “Most days, you’d never know he’s the president. He’s right there with you, asking good questions.”

Conner speaks to employees at American Strucuturepoint’s 2024 annual company briefing.
Photo courtesy of American Structurepoint

Growing the Right Way

Conner takes pride in the fact that American Structurepoint’s sustained growth has come not through acquisition but via organic recruitment and strict adherence to long-standing core values of “respect, results, development and family.”

“As you get older, you realize that’s what made everything really tick when we were really small,” he says. “There’s no reason why, even at our size, you can’t still embrace them. That’s why I want my legacy to be ensuring our firm provides each staff member the same endless opportunities I received.”

Conner stresses that when it comes to hiring, American Structurepoint has prioritized “heart” over technical skills. Overemphasis on the latter, he says, risks adding people who may not mesh with the company’s culture.

“It’s like going to the grocery store hungry,” he says. “It doesn’t work out.”

To ensure that American Structurepoint sustains its values-based trajectory into the future, the firm recently launched an internal leadership academy that prepares younger employees for future roles as company leaders. Conner notes that many program teachers are American Structurepoint employees who add valuable perspective to both day-to-day issues and broader considerations.

Conner is equally committed to growing the design profession outside his company. His many activities include mentoring youth enrolled in DREAM Alive, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that helps at-risk urban students in grades 7-12 discover career and educational opportunities. Conner also serves on the advisory council for the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Purdue University, joining other industry leaders to stay connected to young people entering the engineering sector while providing advice on curriculum and industry needs.

Conner is particularly intrigued with the potential of artificial intelligence, which he believes will be the industry’s next game changer. American Structurepoint’s architects and engineers have already put AI to work in developing designs, he says, predicting that the technology will allow design professionals to take on more of a decision-making role, “providing information and ideas that they can then use to choose the best options for the client.”

American Structurepoint was the lead designer for Segment 3 of the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project in northern Virginia.
Photo courtesy of American Structurepoint

While his official role within American Structurepoint has changed, Conner expects to remain closely engaged in the company and its work for the foreseeable future.

“I enjoy developing strategies to keep our company growing in a healthy way that not only produces growth but also enhances stability,” he says. “It keeps me young!”

Speaking of youth, Conner never tires of touring American Structurepoint’s many Indianapolis-area projects with his eight “best friends”—his grandchildren, some of whom already show signs of being “wired” the same way as their grandfather.

Asked what he might want to say to that young “employee No. 12” if given the chance, Conner would advise him or her to buckle up and enjoy the ride.

“I’d [say] that this is going to be a very impactful and rewarding journey,” Conner says. “What other industry allows you to improve the quality of life for people and communities and help create an environment where people are motivated to do great things? This is the coolest profession there is.”