Forty Under 40: Erin Rushing, 39

Erin Rushing was about to close on a house in Kansas City when a friend said he ought to call CEI Engineering.
He put the closing on hold and ended up moving back nearer to his hometown of Bergman. That was in 2000. Rushing had been in KC since 1996 working for an engineering firm designing parks, golf courses and trails. Before that, he’d been in Branson, working for the city for about six months.
He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1995 with a bachelor’s in landscape architecture.
“When I enrolled at UA, I thought I wanted to be an architect,” Rushing said, but the land development side appealed to his nature more, so he leaned over to the landscape division.
At CEI he focuses on Benton and Washington counties in site development for parks and recreation, and subdivision and commercial development.
The office was growing about 15 percent per year until 2008, he said, then leveled off. The company has managed to diversify enough to keep stable.
Rushing likes to golf, hunt, fish and hike. He’s on the board of the YMCA of Northwest Arkansas and the Rogers Main Street Economic Restructuring Committee.
He’s motivated by relationships, building and nurturing — both co-workers and clients.
“I love to teach people new stuff and see them apply that,” he said.