Overview

At Urban we don’t just “do well,” we “do good.” We believe that we have an obligation to actively maintain the health and well-being of the communities in which we do business, and we enjoy giving back to the places that give so much to us. 

Our employees strive to make our communities better places to live through their projects and volunteerism. We promote service to our communities and professions as a way to translate our values and standards into visible action, adding value and depth to the communities in which we live.

The following includes some of the activities that Urban and our employees participate in. 

Volunteering programs & sponsorships: To give your time to an organization or event to better their cause is the most rewarding thing you can do. We try to do it regularly. 

The Friends of Independence National Historical Park 

This non-profit Philadelphia organization promotes the historical, scientific, educational and interpretive activities of the park system for which no government or other donated funds are available. Made up of volunteers and entities throughout the area, Urban Engineers, Inc. has been a strong supporter of these efforts for many years. Urban employees contribute by promoting initiatives to raise funds for projects, organizing educational events & tours, supplying volunteer assistance at various events, and serving on the Board of Directors.

The Friends of Independence have served as an advocate collective for the park for 45 years. For the past 6 years, a "Young Friends" group has gained momentum in providing outreach to more recent generations; organizing events and promoting fundraising initiatives that appeal to a local younger demographic. Urban staff members were integral in the origin of this group, and they continue to be directly involved with the Young Friends Board and Committee.

Run to Rebuild Sponsorship

Run to Rebuild is a 5K/2 Mile Walk event for Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, a volunteer organization that rebuilds houses to create safe and healthy places to live for low-income homeowners in the city. Urban Engineers has been a sponsor for this event since 2014 and proudly participate in the 5k run each year.

March of Dimes support/sponsorship & walk

March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help the health of mothers and babies by preventing premature births and birth defects. With chapters active throughout the nation, March of Dimes partners with health agencies, other organizations, and hospitals to impact the health of the communities. Along with participating in the annual March for Babies, Urban Engineers serves as a platinum sponsor in the Transportation, Building, & Construction Awards luncheon. Urban's Joe McAtee was a founding volunteer of the awards luncheon and has served as a board member and sponsor of the event since its inception. Mr. McAtee was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the March of Dimes in 2016. 

American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society is on a mission to free the world from cancer. Urban Engineers participates in fundraising and spreading the word about prevention. Our Erie office supports the ACS in their Daffodil Day's campaign. Each spring, the Daffodil serves as a symbol of hope for cancer patients that a cure will be found. This year, the Daffodil Days orders benefited Relay For Life.

LECOM Scholarship Dinner

Urban is a sponsor of the annual Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, LECOM, scholarship auction dinner. LECOM is the nation’s largest medical college with its main campus in Erie, PA. LECOM’s mission is to prepare health care professionals trained in the osteopathic tradition of competent and compassionate, whole-person primary care. While LECOM maintains the second lowest private medical school tuition in the country, these students face mounting debt as they complete their education. Each year, the college conducts fund raisers only for the purpose of providing scholarships to our students. Urban's support of the LECOM Student Scholarship Fund helps deserving students fulfill their dreams of becoming physicians, pharmacists and dentists.

ExpERIEnce Children's Museum Street Soirée

The expERIEnce Children’s Museum is a place that has been inspiring creativity and imagination in children for twenty years. The museum is a non-profit organization located in the historic cultural district of downtown Erie whose entire mission is to engage children and families in a fun and educational experience and is committed to educating children across a broad range of topics including math, science, art, culture, literacy and health. Urban supports their mission as a sponsor of the Street Soirée event.

Goodwill programs & efforts:  We promote a family environment throughout the firm, and family sticks together and gives back.

Bi-annual Red Cross Blood Drive

During this drive, the Red Cross provides a mobile unit outside of our Philadelphia office building. Employees volunteer to give blood throughout the day. Blood was given by more than 50 employees last year! The Red Cross Bloodmobile has been visiting Urban twice a year since 2008. We appreciate all of our volunteers who donate every year. 

Food Drives for Local Foodbanks

Working for an employee-owned company benefits each employee greatly. It is our turn to pass along our generous spirit and help those in need in our communities. All of Urban's offices engage in a canned food drive that includes a competition among the offices to see who can assemble the greatest amount of food and raise the most money. We donate several hundred pounds of food to needy families each year through the Employee Owned Stock Option Plan (ESOP) Communications Committee. The New York and Philadelphia offices donate money to City Harvest, Food Bank of Western New York, and Philabundance, respectively. New Jersey and Delaware offices combine forces to donate a mix of cash and canned goods to Cherry Hill Food and Outreach Council of Cherry Hill’s Food Pantry. As an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) company, we are excited to help these charities make a difference in our communities and neighborhoods.

Christmas/Holiday Toy Drive 

This toy drive event is sponsored every December by Urban's accounting department since 1998! We donate cash and several boxes of toys to Philadelphia and New York City children as part of the annual "Toys for Kids" program. We proudly donate the toys collected to CBS 3's "Joy of Sharing - Toy Fest".  We're looking forward to another year of joyful giving during the holiday season.

Mentoring programs: We do not perceive generation gaps. We recognize and encourage mentoring in all directions as we continue to learn from others no matter what their experience, knowledge, and skill set might be.

We do not perceive generation gaps. We recognize and encourage mentoring in all directions as we continue to learn from others no matter what their experience, knowledge, and skill set might be.

Honest, supportive, and open communication is a hallmark here at Urban, and provides the framework upon which our mentoring programs thrive.  Mentoring is one of the many programs which help to our company be a great place to work. We actively participate in:

ACE Mentoring Program

This after-school program helps high school students take an interest and pursue careers in architecture, construction, and engineering. Real working professionals, like those at Urban, volunteer to mentor these young people in the fastest growing industry mentoring program in the nation. The Eastern Pennsylvania chapter has awarded more than $275,000 in scholarships and grants. Urban Engineers has offered a $5,000 scholarship since 2014. Urban values involvement in outreach programs such as ACE because of the opportunity it provides to increase diversity in the field. Urban is proud to be a part of ACE's mentorship program to provide opportunities for students with limited resources to get involved and learn about our industry. 

WorkReady

The WorkReady Philadelphia program is a citywide effort that uses cross-sector partnerships to connect Philadelphia’s young people to opportunity. The program is managed by the Philadelphia Youth Network, which works to leverage funding through public and private investments that financially sponsor a young person’s work experience. WorkReady distributes support to a network of providers through a competitive procurement process, who coordinate worksites where young people have their introduction to the world of work. Urban volunteered to begin hiring summer interns through the program in 2017 on the suggestion of the Philadelphia Works Board. Learn more about one of the intern’s experience working at the firm in this Q&A.

MATHCOUNTS

This organization provides fun math extracurriculars for middle school students to nurture their interest in the subject and create a social and supportive learning environment. It is open to all ability levels in order to build confidence and improve attitudes towards math and problem solving. Urban is proud to have employees so actively involved in supporting and teaching our future generations.

Future City Competition 

Middle school students compete to design and engineer better, more sustainable cities, addressing real-world problems and bettering the communities these children live in. Future City is known for being accessible to all students and for supporting female students, minority students, and low-income students who have a desire to grow in STEM fields. Urban Engineers has supported this organization as a donor for nearly 20 years. Our Cherry Hill Office VP, Mike McAtee, volunteers on the steering committee and helps in various capacities.  Mr. McAtee is a regional mentor coordinator, school mentor, and helps coordinate the event program development with help from our Corporate Development Department in Philadelphia.