This is one of 12 finalists for the Herald Business Journal’s Emerging Leaders award, which seeks to highlight and celebrate people who are doing good work in Snohomish County. The winner will be named at an event on April 12.
Name: Tyler Rourke
Age: 38
Profession: Project engineer, Electroimpact
Riding a bicycle to a store or a restaurant or just to a park does wonders for a person and a community, argues Tyler Rourke.
“For one thing, it increases the chances that we’ll bump into our neighbors, which is great because it turns out that socialization is something that is very important for human beings, and sorely lacking from our modern lives,” Rourke writes.
The project engineer for Mukilteo’s Electroimpact last year organized the Tour de EFD, a 22-mile route to visit Everett’s fire stations. The weather wasn’t great, but 65 people showed up. He’s helping to plan the second annual event this month. He advocates for pedestrian safety improvements and wants the city to continue implementing its Bicycle Master Plan.
He serves on the city’s Transportation Advisory Committee, where he was recently elected as committee chairman. At his work at Electroimpact, he designs, builds and delivers tooling and automation equipment for the aerospace industry. He applied four times in a single year for the job.
“Eventually, perhaps so that I would stop pestering them, the company hired me,” Rourke wrote.
In leadership positions, Rourke attempts to focus on the task at hand following some basic principles.
“I suppose that’s leading by example, but I think it’s just living a good life,” Rourke said. “What are the basic principles? Always treat people with respect and dignity. Listen. Pay attention. Go out of your way to do the right thing. Do something positive just because you can.
“Have an idea to make a good thing happen and act on it. Fix something that’s broken. Help another person. Repeat.”
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