September 27, 2021
Our latest Employee Spotlight highlights Kyle Westra, Analyst at RSG! Kyle grew up in Southern California before moving to Minnesota to attend college and play football at Saint John’s University. With experience in housing and economic development research, Kyle later joined RSG in 2019.
When asked what drew him to RSG, Kyle said, “I came to realize the impact that policy had on people’s lives (for better or for worse) and that the best way to make the most direct impact on the people around you is in local government.” For Kyle, seeing new businesses and restaurants pop up provides a sense of true excitement when he considers the value these businesses could bring to a city and the value a city could provide in return. Early in his career, Kyle knew he wanted to be a part of nurturing these relationships in some way.
“RSG seems to be the perfect place to learn and discover all that happens behind the scenes from both sides of that relationship,” explained Kyle. “The vast spectrum of the type of projects we get to work on has to be my favorite part of the job. I can work on property disposition and brokering in the morning, then basic, bureaucratic reporting in the afternoon, and finish my day conducting spatial analysis and mapping or problem solving with my colleagues.”
Kyle is driven by his desire to help cities create communities that are economically viable, diverse, and full of opportunities for residents. Among one of his most fulfilling experiences at RSG is the LA County Fire MSR. When asked about the project, Kyle said, “I was able to conduct spatial research using GIS mapping tools to help cities in LA County optimize their fire services by using drive time analysis to determine County stations that would be able to serve the cities. RSG’s findings, based on my analysis, were able to save some LA County cities a good amount of money by outsourcing their fire services to the County.”
While Kyle credits much of his success to those he surrounds himself with, he also cites a quote from UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, as a source of inspiration. “Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
As you may have guessed, Kyle is a huge fan of sports; something that serves him well on the job and flows into his free time as well. His weekends are largely devoted to shooting hoops, card collecting, playing video games, and the occasional spur of the moment car ride through the mountains with his wife.
We are thrilled to have Kyle on the team as he helps take RSG to great heights. Keep it up, Kyle!