From corporate training to tech ventures, Jim Mitnick drives change forward

After more than 50 years as a civil engineer, Jim Mitnick (BSCE ’71) said the work he is most proud of is the development and mentoring of younger engineers.

“Ensuring the next generation of civil engineers is able to lead and take the next step forward has been a great passion of mine,” Mitnick said. “I wanted to make sure they had the best training and resources available  to them — because they are the future of our industry.”

Born and raised in Michigan City, Indiana, along with his younger brother Pete Mitnick (BSCE ‘77), Mitnick graduated high school at age 17 after skipping ahead in eighth grade. For the next three years at Purdue University, he hitchhiked to and from campus until he was finally able to afford a car.

“It was a struggle, but I loved learning about concrete and steel and how things worked,” Mitnick said. “I didn’t receive the best education in high school, so I had to work extra hard not to fall behind in college. Thankfully, I had some incredible professors who would take the time to help when I needed it. I’ll always remember and appreciate that.”

After earning his degree, Mitnick began his 37-year-long career with Turner Construction. Originally assigned to the company’s Cleveland office, Mitnick would eventually be designated to start new offices in Detroit, Buffalo and Toronto, Canada, and managed other offices including Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

“I oversaw a lot of health care projects, convention centers, offices, theaters, university stadiums and demolition projects,” Mitnick said. “I was happy with what we had been able to accomplish, but what I would say where I left my mark in the industry came after that.”

In 2000, Mitnick was presented with a new opportunity at Turner Construction: to create and oversee a program that could help develop and train 1,000 new hires each year to support the growth of the company. The endeavor would ultimately become a $25 million project that eventually revolutionized how all staff would learn and develop.

“We wanted this to be a program where engineers from all around the world could benefit from the Turner Knowledge Network,” Mitnick said. “Over a six-year period we codified the intellectual knowledge of the companyand built over 100 hours of online content to support the recruitment, retention and development of all staff.”

Mitnick would spend the remainder of his career with Turner further developing and expanding its Knowledge Network. Then, in 2007, Mitnick said it was time to move to the next phase of his career.

After retiring as senior vice president at Turner Construction, Mitnick went on to develop unique software that became the AEC Online Store. Founded in 2008, the goal was to create branded online stores for the architectural, engineering and construction community to provide both safety and corporate apparel.

“I’ve always been an early adopter of technology and new ways to improve what’s being done,” Mitnick said. “It’s been an incredible opportunity to have led a learning transformation at Turner and create a new business at AEC as I get to continue to see companies develop and thrive — and I am excited to see where this opportunity takes me.”