Logan Hodges, PMP – Dewberry

When Logan Hodges first joined the asset management group at Dewberry, she saw much more than equipment lifecycles and capital plans. She saw an opportunity to give community institutions something they rarely had enough of: clarity. In the K-12 space, especially, administrators often know their buildings are aging, their systems are overloaded, and their budgets are strained. Still, they lack the resources to fully understand the scope of their needs. Hodges stepped into that gap with a combination of technical expertise, empathy, and a commitment to building real relationships.

That approach reflects Dewberry’s broader philosophy, a national engineering, architecture, and construction firm that has long built its reputation on solving clients’ challenges as a community-based firm. Dewberry provides planning, design, and construction services across the country, but it sets itself apart by prioritizing long-term trust over short-term wins. As Hodges explains through her work, clients do not just need findings; they need a partner who will walk through challenges with them and help turn insight into action.

Her first major project at Dewberry, supporting a local school district within her community, demonstrated exactly how powerful that partnership can be. Armed with a comprehensive overview of its facilities, future costs, and long-term needs, the district gained a way to plan not just for maintenance, but for growth. Hodges guided them through a process that revealed not only what was aging, but why it mattered and how to prioritize within limited resources.

Early beginnings

Hodges did not begin her career expecting to work in engineering, asset management, or even construction. Upon arriving at East Carolina University, she chose nursing as her major and immersed herself in the sciences. However, it did not take long for her to realize that her passion lay elsewhere.

What she had always loved, even as a child, was drawing homes and layouts in three dimensions, sketching floor plans and imagining spaces that worked better. A high school drafting teacher had once told her she had real talent, but she had not yet connected those early interests to a possible career. When nursing no longer felt like the right path, she transitioned to construction management and immediately thrived.

An internship with a subcontractor offered her an early glimpse of the industry, but she wanted something more challenging and more impactful. That push led her into commercial construction and eventually into one of the most demanding sectors: healthcare and life sciences. Working in complex environments meant navigating intense regulations, strict specifications, and high stakes. The experience tested her resilience, sharpened her attention to detail, and solidified her interest in quality control and client engagement.

Interfacing with owners on complex systems became one of the most rewarding parts of the job. It showed her how strong communication and trust guided successful outcomes, and it reinforced her desire to work closely with clients on long-term goals rather than short-term tasks. Still, the construction industry became difficult, and she began to search for a role that offered both impact and balance. Having collaborated with Dewberry on previous projects, she knew the firm valued relationships as much as results, and she saw an opportunity to bring her construction background into a new type of problem-solving.

Building trust with school districts

Today, Hodges is one of two tactical leaders in facilities and infrastructure asset management at Dewberry, where she helps school systems, state agencies, municipalities, and private clients understand their buildings, plan for the future, and make data-informed decisions. Unlike traditional assessments that rely primarily on checklists or visual observations, Dewberry deploys full, multidisciplinary teams on-site, with subject-matter experts dedicated to each discipline.

Hodges serves as the client’s primary point of contact. She guides the assessment team, confirms that information is accurate and contextualized, and listens carefully to the client’s prior knowledge. In many cases, districts are well aware of their most significant issues; they simply need help prioritizing.

“We weren’t just offering a service; we were helping them become proactive and build a solid foundation to solve problems they’d been living with for years,” Hodges says.

That philosophy shaped her first K-12 asset management project, a district struggling with aging facilities, significant deferred maintenance, and limited resources. She met with administrators, facility staff, and other stakeholders early in the process to gather pain points and understand constraints. Her goal was to create a space where every voice was valued, and every concern captured before recommendations were formed.

This collaborative approach resulted in realism and trust. It also provided leaders with something they had never fully had before: a roadmap that aligned their priorities with available funding.

From there, she and her team built capital plans, budget cycles, and long-term strategies designed to help the district understand when and how to act. Their work allowed the school system to focus on its core mission while trusting Dewberry to support the technical details.

An expanding responsibility

As Dewberry continues to grow, Hodges sees asset management becoming even more crucial. Across rural areas, especially, school buildings are older, funding is stretched thin, and districts face the dual challenges of rising demand and aging infrastructure. Some are experiencing rapid enrollment growth, while others struggle with facilities that were never designed for modern needs.

Dewberry helps them take a deep dive into their buildings, exploring equipment lifecycles, structural conditions, mechanical systems, and operational constraints. Once data is gathered, the firm makes recommendations grounded in engineering and practical operations. This gives districts a realistic picture of what needs to be done now and what can be scheduled over the next five, ten, or even twenty years.

Her work extends far beyond K-12. She supports assessments of state-owned facilities, local county programs, and municipalities requiring multi-year improvement cycles. In one county, she helped build a 10-year capital cycle for every building, ensuring leaders could see both immediate needs and long-term investments across their entire asset portfolio.

Even as her scope grows, she remains passionate about K-12 because of its ripple effect on communities. Schools shape families, neighborhoods, and future generations. By helping districts understand and protect their assets, Hodges believes she is contributing to something larger.

“We’re not just growing to grow,” she says. “We want to scale in a way that keeps our clients supported, our teams engaged, and our communities better off.”

Her local team is small, only four people, yet they are supporting offices across the enterprise and North Carolina and traveling when necessary. Because dedicated asset management departments remain rare in the industry, Hodges and her colleagues are discussing how to expand their program into new regions so more districts can benefit from the structure they provide.

The people behind the process

Hodges’ approach is grounded in understanding people as much as buildings. Before any assessment begins, she prioritizes finding the individuals who hold the institutional knowledge that data alone cannot reveal. Maintenance teams, custodial staff, and building operators often have the most insight into what is failing, why it is happening, and how long it has been a problem.

Listening to these perspectives not only improves assessment accuracy but also builds the trust Dewberry is known for.

“We take pride in having subject matter experts in these fields,” Hodges says. “But we also want to hear from those who know the buildings best.”

Within Dewberry, she serves as co-chair of the firm’s women’s employee resource group, helping build a stronger network of support and professional development for women across the company. Monthly speaker events, leadership meetings, and an active communication channel provide a space where women can connect, learn, and advocate for themselves and others in a historically male-dominated field.

Her journey from aspiring nurse to project manager at a national engineering firm may seem unexpected, but each step has reinforced her strengths: problem-solving, communication, relationship-building, and a deep commitment to the communities she serves. Today, as she helps school systems, agencies, and municipalities plan, Hodges is proving that asset management is not simply about maintaining buildings. It is about helping people make informed decisions that will strengthen communities for years to come.

And that is a foundation she is proud to help build.