Leadership

Being an engineer and entrepreneur align perfectly with who Kimberly Robinett is. Growing up, her business owner father instilled in her his unwillingness to accept failure and entrepreneurial spirit. Sadly, he passed away when she was just 12, leaving behind Kimberly, her mother and her two sisters. Driven by her mother’s strength in the face of adversity, Kimberly stepped up to help care for her siblings, building the traits of leadership, self-confidence and resilience that characterize her today.

Kimberly got her first job at age 15 and put herself through college at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. It’s at UMKC that Kimberly discovered engineering—and met Trent.

After six years in the engineering industry, Kimberly recognized a need for more quality diverse businesses in Kansas City’s engineering community. With a simple plan to deliver quality work, on schedule and under budget, she and Trent founded TREKK in 2002.

Characterized by her mother’s resolve and her father’s fearlessness, it’s no surprise Kimberly became an entrepreneur. She has built TREKK’s culture around her personal purpose of IMPROVING LIVES through service to the community. From the basement of their house to now 11 offices and more than 200 employees, Kimberly and Trent have been blessed to find people who share their vision and passion to help TREKK serve others and make the world a better place.

TREKK has grown and evolved, but as the firm’s CEO/Managing Partner, Kimberly has remained the constant beacon that sets the company’s course. She oversees the company’s overall operations and strategic direction. Her compassion, wisdom and kindness resonate throughout TREKK and is what makes us different.

Kimberly and Trent have been blessed with three daughters. She enjoys sharing new travel experiences with them, reading, and solving complex puzzles, like conquering every escape room she’s entered. All three girls share her competitive spirit and emotional intelligence. She is active at her church and in numerous civic and industry organizations and gives back through mentoring. Kimberly is also a Kansas City Business Journal 2016 Women Who Mean Business honoree.

Ever the quiet leader, Kimberly has a special ability to bring out the best in everyone. Her relentless work ethic inspires those around her to make a difference in TREKK’s clients’ lives and communities.

Trent Robinett knew he wanted to be an engineer from a young age. He grew up working in his father's construction business where he learned the rewards of hard work, building things to last, doing the right thing for your customer, and applying common sense to solve problems. 

Trent leveraged a college golf scholarship to earn his degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.  While at UMKC, he met his Managing Life Partner, Kimberly.  After working separately for six years, Kimberly suggested they start their own civil engineering firm in 2002. The rest is history.

As TREKK has grown and evolved, so has Trent’s role within the company. Today, he’s responsible for project delivery and TREKK’s business development functions.  He works directly with staff to help them deliver solutions to TREKK clients.  Ever the optimist, Trent enjoys coaching and mentoring staff to find ways to make a difference in their communities.  This gives him the opportunity to share with staff the company purpose and vision of IMPROVING LIVES taught to him by Kimberly.

When he’s not at the office, you’ll usually find Trent on the golf course, cheering on his three daughters, or traveling around the world. He is active at his church and in civic and industry organizations.

Since the day she walked into TREKK, Tawn has fit right in. She embodies our purpose of IMPROVING LIVES, both at TREKK and in her personal life. And it doesn’t hurt that she likes to work hard and have fun doing while doing it.

Tawn grew up helping her father build things, figuring out how to make them work. She initially thought a career in architecture was her calling, but quickly learned that civil engineering was her true passion. After graduating from Iowa State University, Tawn’s path led her to Kansas City where she met Kimberly and Trent.

Tawn and Trent have been solving problems together since the early years of their careers.  As founding members of a local users group in the late 1990s, they helped develop a platform for civil engineers to come together and share their ideas. This early relationship was just the start of decades of partnering, leading to today, where Tawn is an Associate Partner responsible for our growing Transportation team.

The word teamwork epitomizes Tawn’s approach to her work. She believes problem solving is more fun with a group, especially when that group includes clients she’s proud to call friends. You can see her natural ability to unite and inspire her team on every project and during teambuilding events.

Tawn is dedicated to developing and coaching those around her. She can turn even the most basic task into a learning opportunity. This mentorship extends to the community, where she volunteers her time to spread the love of engineering to our younger generation, particularly young women. Tawn is also a regular volunteer among numerous civic and community groups, especially animal causes.

Tawn’s energy, drive and passion for her work and her people is contagious. We’re glad she’s sharing it with us.

Lucas Gillen grew up taking old things, like equipment and pieces of furniture, and giving them new life. His work today isn’t much different than what he did growing up, transforming and improving things all around him. As Associate Partner, Lucas’ team works to identify and prioritize failing infrastructure and deliver creative and common-sense solutions to fix them.

After graduating from Kansas State University, Lucas began his career with a focus on helping communities manage and reduce inflow/infiltration by renewing and rehabilitating their wastewater collection system infrastructure. Success in the wastewater arena soon led clients to ask Lucas’ team to deliver inspection and assessment solutions for all types of infrastructure including water, stormwater, gas and electric. Through the years, his team has innovated and developed industry changing inspection tools, data management systems, and analytical processes to grade and prioritize infrastructure.

Lucas is driven by the team of people around him. He strives to treat people with respect and help those around him to succeed. This approach is evident in the people who are part of TREKK’s Water Systems and Utilities teams and the many communities they have impacted. Lucas understands that every client is unique, and he is passionate about helping them develop solutions that work for their specific situation.

When Lucas is not working, you can find him busy with his family, coaching his young boys in sports, and sneaking in some golf or hunting along the way.

One thing Brock learned from his football career at South Dakota State University is that two steps into a route, the play can change. So when you combine an education in civil engineering with an all-conference wide receiver, you get a very non-traditional engineer.

But for Brock, it isn’t as much about the broken play as is it about the cohesive framework you create within the team that allows for quick response and seamless adaption toward the goal. A black belt by the third grade, he learned early on the discipline of time management, training and leadership that comes with sports – and life.

Brock’s leadership skills are a big part of why he is an Associate Partner overseeing TREKK’s CCTV & Cleaning practice and operations in Omaha. Specializing in Inflow and Infiltration investigations for collection systems, Brock’s focus on the planning and management of storm and sanitary combined sewer projects in Nebraska and Iowa enhances TREKK’s operations.

When he’s not improving sewer infrastructure, Brock is giving back to the community through outreach to aspiring engineers. And if that’s not enough, Brock is also an entrepreneur, operating a tubing, kayaking and camping business all summer long.

Brock always keeps his eye on the ball when it comes to client satisfaction and a quality end product.

Curiosity and a desire to learn have always driven Justin. As a child, he’d watch his grandfather move dirt as a heavy equipment operator in highway construction. When Justin was 16, he started his first job as a concrete laborer and spent his summers on job sites. By 21, he was managing a concrete crew. It was there that he discovered a passion for solving problems. So he took his aptitude for math and science, passion for construction, and a partially completed physics degree and decided to become a civil engineer.

Shortly after graduating from both Central Missouri State University and the University of Missouri – Rolla with dual degrees in physics and civil engineering, Justin joined TREKK as the firm’s eighth employee. Since then, Justin has worn nearly every hat at TREKK, from field technician, to surveyor, to Associate Partner and Civil Lead. Family values taught him that if you work hard and apply yourself, no matter what the role, all involved should have voice in any team endeavor. Justin strives to fill any gap that TREKK needs and is up for any challenge.

Justin admittedly thrives on the challenges of his projects and fulfilling client needs every day. But he always carves out time for his daughters, jamming on the guitar, hunting, and the occasional over-all Saturday.