Fast 15: Mariah Crews

After earning a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from the University of Missouri, Mariah Crews realized that the hospitality industry wasn’t her true calling.

The Gower, Mo.-native looked to a field with more traditional work hours, stability and regular income. Her exposure to the construction industry led her to civil engineering. Her father is a small business owner in the construction industry, and she has other family members in the industry, including her grandfather, who used to pave roads. While she pursued a civil engineering degree, Crews found that she was good at math.

“It’s been kind of a full circle thing for me,” she said. “I think that was more serendipitous maybe than it was in the plan, and it was something that I realized that my values align with the field.”

In 2021, Crews earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas. She moved to Northwest Arkansas from St. Louis after her husband landed a job at Heartland Forward, a Bentonville think-and-do tank.

After graduation, she worked at CEI for more than a year before joining Olsson in August 2022. The change allowed her to focus on roadway design, and she credits her group leader, Andy Brewer, for her transition to Olsson. Crews worked for Brewer while she was an intern at the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

“I had established a relationship with him when I moved to Arkansas as a student,” she said. “He judged some contests and different things that I was a part of [and] was very involved with our transportation student chapter.”

She started as an assistant engineer at Olsson and was named to her existing role in January. While she’s yet to be eligible to become a licensed engineer, she’s taken on project management responsibilities, leads meetings and works with clients.

Recently, she helped design the approximately 1-mile extension of Gene George Boulevard from Elm Springs Road to the Benton County line in Springdale. Other recent responsibilities have included trail design and grant projects.

Over the next three to five years, she looks to lead a team and “continue the design excellence that Olsson is known for.”

Crews is vice president of the Arkansas Institute of Transportation Engineers and is an adult first-ride volunteer with Trailblazers. Her hobbies include reading, running and cycling.