The Verdis based in Coeur d'Alene, an engineering, planning, landscape design and construction company, is the winner of the “Medium Business of the Year 2025” award.
Sandy Young and her late husband Gary founded 2007 as a landscape architecture and land use planning company Yoy Inc. Before Gary died of cancer, he encouraged Sandy to be certified in the 8 (a) business development program of the small business administration. It was included in the program in 2015 and when the business grew, it expanded the services with civil engineering, masonry, construction and historical buildings and restoration.
The company is located in 3906 N. Schreiber Way in a 7,000 square meter room in North Coeur d'Alene. It employs 35 employees and expects up to 20%of sales this year, compared to over 20 million US dollars in the previous year.
Verdis was recognized as a small business in 2020 by Idaho Ptac, SBA's property of 2022, and received the Orchid Award of the State Idaho Historic Preservation Society in 2023. In May, Young will be a spokesman in the small business symposium for small businesses in Boise, Idaho, Idaho.
To what extent would you quantify the company's growth in recent years?
Verdis has expanded into state projects for public work, added a masonry restoration department and entered a joint venture with a large engineering office through the SBA Mentor Protégé program to expand our department for civil engineering. We have hired four employees in the past three years.
How did the organization adapt or innovated last year?
We have searched and received more private, urban and state orders instead of relying on federal contracts. Our increase in contracts correlates directly with the experience experience that we have gained in the past five years. We were ready to ask for projects outside of our specialist area and thus increase our basis of experience.
What obstacles has your organization overcome in recent years?
Recruiting qualified engineers to the region was a challenge. The cost of real estate and the availability of living space make it extremely difficult to bring new talents to the region. We spent more time at job measurements and with headhunter to look for talents.
To what extent does your organization of the community return?
Since 2017, Verdis has employed summer interns on a competitive wage every year in order to suspend the pupils to the area of engineering and construction. The students are teamed up with Verdis' licensed civil engineers, where they are exposed to surveillance methods, the use of a drone, the introduction to AutoCAD, reading plans, the preservation of permits and the support of rainwater inspections.
Verdis also donates for causes and charity organizations, including capital improvements at local primary and secondary schools, youth sports, judicial special lawyers, Sunrise Rotary and the Wishing Star Foundation.
Sandy is President of the Panhandle Parks Foundation and is a member of the North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation and the Kootai Resource Conservation Trust. Before that, she was also served in the Coeur D'Alene Chamber of Commerce.