Now grandmas, Glenda Miller and Cindy Fredrick have one of those enduring kinships. Arm-in-arm pals since high school in Kansas City in the mid-1970s, followed by a stint at the same insurance agency. They’ve been in each other’s wedding and seen each other’s family blossom. 

Two peas in a pod, though those commonalities of their sisterhood aren’t what’s truly remarkable about their unbreakable bond. 

In September 1977, Glenda landed work at global engineering and construction leader Black & Veatch and enticed Cindy to join her. Both started on the same day with the same supervisor and sat side by side for several years.  

For nearly half a century, they called it home. A labor of love and, with rare exception, anything but work. 

Let that marinate for a bit: By the time Glenda finally retired in mid-2025, the tandem each had spent more than 47 years at the same company — Glenda for much of that span as a graphic designer, Cindy in word processing.  

That jaw-dropping combined tenure — 94 years — of two people simultaneously at the same workplace is the equivalent of finding a four-leaf clover in a field of daisies. A rarity in today’s workplace where mergers, layoffs, career tracks and evolving business models tend to disrupt long-term employment. 

Federal figures bear it out. The median tenure at a company in the U.S. is about 3.9 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number is even lower — 3.5 years — for those working in the private sector. 

‘People make the difference’ 

For Glenda and Cindy, who during their careers ascended to supervisory roles, parting from Black & Veatch never really was a consideration. Whether it was their relationship between each other or their employer, their story was one of deep loyalty, shared values and the intrinsic belief that work doesn’t have to be a chore. 

“If you’re happy doing your job and this is what you want to be doing, then it’s really not a job,” Glenda said in reflecting on her 47 years, nine months and seven days — but who’s counting — at Black & Veatch. “It’s not work. It’s just enjoying life and making money doing the things you want to do. 

“I think the people make the difference. I’ve been just lucky enough to be on some really great teams, and I enjoy the people I work with. We’re like a family.” 

“I really don’t mind waking up in the morning and coming to work,” added Cindy, for now holding off talk of calling it a career. “It’s not even possible for people to imagine working somewhere for almost 48 years. I think it’s just fun to be able to say it. It went really fast.” 

Glenda Miller (Black & Veatch photo)

Two generations have passed since Black & Veatch first became part of the tandem’s DNA, and times are vastly different. Back then, Jimmy Carter occupied the White House, “Star Wars” was the box office blockbuster, “Saturday Night Fever” catapulted disco into the mainstream and Elvis Presley left this world. The first inkjet printer just hit the market, and computer floppy disks were the rage.

Black & Veatch was just a year removed from first occupying what now is its global headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas, at the time on 37 acres next to a soybean field that since has given way to suburban sprawl. That building — then 276,000 square feet — now sports more than twice that floor space, making it the largest contiguous office building in all of Kansas.

About the time Glenda and Cindy first arrived, with Cindy making the commute in her 1970 Ford Galaxy 500, the company had some 2,200 professionals. Today, that number is roughly 12,000.

Cindy Fredrick, seated center (Black & Veatch photo)

Building wealth, with a wealth of opportunity

For Glenda and Cindy, job fulfillment has come with enrichment manifested by decades of their compounded stakes in the employee-owned company that in 1999 adopted an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Their personal wealth is on top of annual pay increases, performance bonuses and 401(k) contributions.

With long careers comes deep wisdom, and neither woman is shy about imparting it to tomorrow’s Black & Veatch talent, including Cindy’s daughter working in the payroll department since April 2024.

Cindy’s advice: Embrace that while you start at the bottom of the totem pole and are “just scared to death,” patience pays — literally and in terms of wealth building. Don’t sweat the small stuff, be a team player and have a voice.

“Don’t be afraid to learn. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Don’t be afraid to ask about new things,” Glenda said. “A good supervisor always wants to see their team move on. Having been a supervisor, you hate to see your good people go. But at the same time, you know it’s best for them.

“It goes back to my friends getting promoted thing — there’s a lot of people we’ve worked with here that are in senior positions now, and it’s just awesome to see how well people do and how their career paths go,” she added, smiling while wiping away tears.

“Yeah, I loved this job.”