Employee Spotlight: Engineering with Ethics

An interview with James (Jim) Streeter, P.E., Vice President, VFA Capital Planning and Assessment Services at Gordian

Meet James Streeter, our “Jim-of-all-trades” and a master at leading his team to achieve their priorities and goals. Jim has over 25 years of experience helping organizations strategically prioritize, maintain and resourcefully utilize their physical assets. As Vice President for VFA Capital Planning and Assessment Services, he manages the team dedicated to Gordian’s VFA and Kykloud solutions and is responsible for comprehensive strategic planning and innovation to this software and service offering.

“We have an ethical duty to ensure competency in what we provide to the public and I take that seriously.”

Jim Streeter, P.E.

In our interview, Jim discusses how his desire for accuracy and precision drew him into engineering, leaders in his past that helped him to build his confidence and how he uses his professional skills at home.

What inspired you to go into engineering/technology as a career?

I originally had a desire for architecture and started my higher education pursuing a career as an architect. During my first few years in that curriculum, I became more interested in the required engineering classes like structural and thermodynamics as they were precise with calculations as compared to design and theory in architecture.

What do you strive to accomplish with your work?

As an engineering professional, I always strive for accuracy. Arriving at values through multiple means to cross-check results.  People entrust in me that I have the skills and understanding to engineer a system that will work as intended and that it’s safe.  We have an ethical duty to ensure competency in what we provide to the public and I take that seriously.

(Left) Jim Streeter joined Gordian in 2021. (Right) Jim, Matthew Bausher (Vice President and General Manager, Higher Education) and the VFA Capital Planning and Assessment Services leaders outside of Gordian’s headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina.

What’s something cool that you have gotten to do at work?

Working as a facility engineer early in my career, the department leader asked me to stay late to troubleshoot why a new, large, expensive piece of manufacturing equipment wouldn’t function as intended at installation. I was either being tested or there was trust in me to solve this. While I feared the worst (not being able to solve the problem), I used my education to methodically evaluate the installation, understand what wasn’t working and determined the solution.  It was a proud moment for me and a realization of why Engineers are needed in society. The department leader told me the next day that he had no doubt I would solve it.

How do the skills you have learned in your career influence your life outside of work?

I am the de facto math support for my son and daughter for school homework. Because I am a numbers person, it allows me to be very organized and in control of the household finances. My need to be methodical and my engineering education allows me to solve and fix house problems. I am considered a jack of all trades and really like to do things myself.

Visit our company page to learn more about our team and career opportunities at Gordian.