Meet ISG President David Doxtad

I had a high school math teacher who noticed I was good at math and encouraged me to pursue a career focused on something related to it. I went on to study civil engineering at Iowa State University. The reason I chose civil was because of my interest in land. My father and grandfather were both farmers and instilled in me that land is something that they don’t make more of, which peaked my interest. I stuck with it and really enjoyed it, and it has brought me experiences all over the country and with ISG.

Feel free to say yes more often because you'll find that if you continue to say no, they won't ask. This is empowering because it means that you may not have that next opportunity if you are afraid to fail. Living out that lesson has allowed me to grow and encourage others to be dynamic and continually evolve. This advice also propels us to embrace change and say yes to experiences that may make us feel uncomfortable doing, but it is empowering and opens new opportunities. As a result, we are comfortable being uncomfortable.

The operations team is something that I am really passionate about. Working with these groups of leaders where we have conversations on how we can get better and how we can mentor folks along the way to bring them up in our practice groups. It’s very rewarding. The other thing that excites me is on the talent side. I am involved with the talent team, and we look at how to strengthen teams and place people in the right position for success. We identify individuals who are up and coming and are ready to flourish. It is exciting to provide our team members with mentorship and opportunities for growth. And then of course the projects. I get to see all of what we're doing and the impact we're making across all our communities.

It is great to see that our employee owners do things outside the office together. It is a way to measure the culture here at ISG. The fact that team members choose to grab dinner or participate in activities outside of work together shows me that we have a great culture. Our firm also embraces having employees visit from our other offices, and we make sure they are included and taken care of when they come to Sioux Falls. It really means something special when we come together.

One super exciting aspect of blazing a new office is that we get to create what we want, which is very special. It has been fun to see how our office has evolved over the years. We have built a tight-knit team that continues to grow, and we are really excited to be together in our new office come September. Another super awesome turning point was when we invited our employee owners back to the office during COVID. It was like a sprint. People wanted to come back to collaborate and interact with each other.

Besides looking at the impact ISG has made in the community here, my favorite activity is Saturday mornings at the farmers market. Sioux Falls has a fantastic famers market with a great selection of high-quality produce. My wife and I love to cook, so going to the farmers market and planning our meals for the weekend is fun. A lot of our free time revolves around our two sets of twins. We love to spend time with our family and thankfully, they aren’t too far away. We enjoy being on the water, so you will find us boating throughout the summer. My wife and I also enjoy golfing together.