December 2024 groundbreaking for the Kenner Fire Station No. 38 in Kenner, La. The project is one of many CMAR projects that Evans has worked on.
Photo courtesy Digital Engineering & Imaging Inc.

Constructing a Career

The son of a carpenter, Evans says following in his father’s footsteps after high school seemed the obvious path. “I thought I was going to become a carpenter, like my dad, but I was intrigued by the plans to construct buildings,” he recalls. “I was enjoying solving problems and using my head on jobsites.”

Evans enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU) to pursue a civil engineering degree, becoming the first in his family to go to college. At LSU, Evans flourished, gaining exposure to a diverse range of civil work, eventually gravitating to highway systems and road design.

When he graduated in 1979, Evans had offers from construction companies as well as engineering firms. “I made an interesting phone call to my father, and I said, ‘Dad, I got some really good job offers from construction firms,’” Evans recalls. “He said, ‘You were in construction, you know what that’s like. Go be a professional engineer for a while. You can always change your mind later.’”

Evans signed on with one of the industry’s largest firms, HNTB. As a project engineer, he not only gained exposure to complex and interesting projects, he also got a glimpse of how to run projects professionally. “It was a really well-put together and well-run organization,” he says. “I got joy out of working on incredible interstate systems, state routes and drain systems, but also how to put projects together and how to manage design into construction.”

While he was able to move up through the ranks quickly, Evans eventually saw a ceiling for young engineers, and in 1984 he decided to take a chance on a newly formed firm, GEC, in Baton Rouge, where he worked on highways, traffic engineering and stormwater management.

“[At HNTB], I was able to work beyond my age, but there were a lot of people ahead of me in line [for promotions],” he says. “I’m not a very patient person, so when opportunities came knocking at the door, I assessed, and I jumped.”

Coming in at the firm’s founding, Evans was able to continue advancing, and was named vice president in his mid-20s. When the firm was sold, Evans again looked for new opportunities. In 1988, he joined Arrendondo, Brunz & Associates in Dallas and was asked to open an office in Orlando as vice president. Once in Florida, he moved to Glace & Radcliffe’s Tampa office in 1990 “to help turn around the office.”

After serving briefly as operations manager at Glace & Radcliffe, Evans decided to return to Louisiana and joined Hartman Engineering in Kenner, La., as chief engineer in 1990. At that same time in Kenner, Digital Imaging Inc. was founded by owner and president Jimmie Martinez as a firm that specialized in converting nondigital engineering drawings into CAD files for local government agencies.

Three years later, Evans was offered an opportunity that would ultimately define his professional career. Martinez recruited Evans to join his team as vice president, adding professional engineering services to its offerings. Once again, Evans thought back to the early lessons from his father.

“He taught me not to have fear of trying or to fear failing,” he says. “I’ve been blessed to have the confidence in myself to never give up. There will be bumps in the road, and I’ve seen some setbacks, but you work through and don’t quit trying. I never feared failure.”

Early on, the firm, which was renamed Digital Engineering & Imaging Inc., saw the growth potential of its engineering services. Two years later, Evans’ entrepreneurial spirit paid off, and he became an owner.

“At first, we were in survival mode,” he recalls. “So we took anything we could get our hands on. And we did a good job with it, so people kept coming back to this little company that we were just starting. [Clients] said, ‘We really trust you guys. You really take care of us.’ And that’s when I learned the value of taking care of communities and clients, not just looking at the dollars. Provide quality service and keep the community safe and healthy. Eventually, the money will come—and it did.”

Jose Gonzalez, chief administrative officer for the city of Kenner, says Evans has stayed true to himself and his ideals over the nearly 35 years that he has known him. “He’s smart, honest, dependable and personable,” Gonzalez says. “I have really enjoyed my relationship with Kurt over the years. With his experience and expertise, he made things a lot simpler for me, as far as dictating the scope of work for a project, dictating fees and working on the project as a government entity. “It was very easy to work with him and his team, compared to perhaps other [firms] that are not so easy to work with.”

Since then, Evans says he still retains that willingness to push forward without fear of failure while also being guided by sound business strategies. “When you get 10 years down the line, you start being more selective in the type of work you take on,” he says. “You look around at the needs in the region and, at the time, we saw coastal restoration [opportunities], so I started pursuing coastal money from Washington, D.C. Then it was wastewater and drinking water.”

A big part of Evans’ mission is to instill in others the desire to mentor and develop future leaders.
Photo courtesy Digital Engineering & Imaging Inc.

Community Service

Although diverse in its offerings, Evans sees commonality in the firm’s portfolio of projects. “I look at the big picture and think, ‘How can we serve a community?’” he says. “How can we make life better and quality of life better for people? To me, failure is not doing a project. If you have an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, take it.”

One of those opportunities came in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Waveland, Miss., was ground zero for the devastating storm, wiping out nearly every structure in the 8,000-person community. “The mayor of Waveland called and he said, ‘Kurt, I need you over here. You got to come see how bad it is,’” Evans recalls. “I go there and they asked us, ‘Can you rebuild our city?’”

“It was the biggest challenge we’d faced, building an entire city for these people, and getting first response off the ground with FEMA trailers, water and sewer, electricity and then rebuilding this community. That was the most rewarding opportunity in my professional career, having all of our knowledge come together at the right time to serve these people.”

Evans also credits a lot of his personal growth to his involvement in industry and community organizations. Over the years, he has been involved in the American Society of Civil Engineers of Louisiana, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Louisiana, the Society of American Military Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Louisiana Engineering Society and the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.

“When I’d go to association meetings, I’d listen to everybody and ask questions about how to do this or that in your business,” he says. “You find that people are willing to share with you if you’re willing to listen. So I just learned from them, whether it was their business strategy, their engineering style or their people management. And over time, you’re willing to share your own experience and give back to others.”

Janet Landry, vice president of ACEC of Louisiana, says that over the last 15 years, Evans has developed into a resource. He worked with ACEC and AIA Louisiana to launch an Emerging Leader Institute series on developing management skills for individuals both professional and personally.

“Kurt is a champion who knows how to bring out the best in everyone who meets him,” she says.

One of his lasting impacts was his research into alternative procurement for early contractor involvement and construction manager at-risk in preparation of crafting draft language for the Louisiana Legislature. Evans worked in collaboration with ACEC, AIA, LES and AGC to create consensus and support for CMAR language that was ultimately approved by the state Legislature. Evans embraced alternative delivery through his work at Digital Engineering, including program management of CMAR projects for the city of Kenner and as senior technical adviser for CMAR procurement of a $60-million water improvement program for St. John the Baptist Parish, La.

He has served as president of the Rotary Club of Kenner, board chairman of the East Jefferson YMCA, board member of the New Orleans Metro YMCA and the Holy Cross School board chairman.

“I’ve always been a community person,” he says. “I can contribute and make someone’s life better, and at the same time I can develop [myself] as a person.”

While Evans established himself as a leader during his 45-year career, he also committed himself to developing the next generation of leaders. “I learned that if we find good people, we can build a company around that,” he says. “I also looked for people who could help us define our culture [early on] and then find people who match that culture. I looked for the attitude in an individual that says, ‘I buy into your vision, and I’m gonna roll up my sleeves and be all in with you. Let’s pull this wagon together.’”

Following his retirement on Jan. 1, Evans has stayed on at Digital Engineering in a consulting role, including working to instill in others the need to mentor and develop future leaders.

“That’s what a lot of the conversations about—making sure we secure the longevity of this family,” he says.