For decades, Rick Reikenis has played a meaningful role in shaping how Palm Beach County plans, grows, and solves its most complex challenges. As a Senior Associate at Langan Engineering, he serves as a strategic consultant on issues spanning West Palm Beach, countywide initiatives, and long-range planning efforts. He also devotes much of his time to mentoring the next generation of engineers and problem-solvers, an extension of a career defined by stewardship and community impact.

That belief carries into his leadership philosophy, which centers on lifting others, anticipating what’s on the horizon, and leaving things better than you found them. “I like to try to understand where trends are going, and then do my best to help the organization get ahead of the trends. You make your own luck. I try to do much of this by introducing people and concepts to each other and then helping the seeds grow. If they have merit, they will take off. Not all seeds grow into trees.”

That approach didn’t develop by accident; it was shaped in part by leaders he watched closely early on in his life. “I admired Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaeffer, who began his leadership of the city in the late 1970s, guiding the city from an old, decaying downtown to a vibrant example of how to use all resources to turn a city around. I lived in Baltimore at the time and saw his style firsthand and the results that they brought about. He understood how to mobilize city residents in such a way that they had skin in the game for the city’s revitalization and were enthusiastically active in the city’s rebirth.”

That early example became a blueprint for how he’d approach his work in West Palm Beach. He was part of the founding group of Sunfest, the iconic festival that brought attention back to the city’s waterfront. As a City Commissioner in the mid-1980s and as Mayor from 1987–1988, Rick saw up close the demands of public responsibility and the need to find practical solutions quickly. This included bringing back neighborhoods from the scourge of the crack epidemic, negotiating the deal with Palm Beach County to retain the administration and courts downtown, starting the first curbside recycling program in Florda, shepherding through the approvals for Downtown/Uptown (now CityPlace), enhancing public safety and code enforcement programs, and annexing  the western areas of the city.

He applies that same mindset to his non-profit work as well. “I served as President of Adopt-a-Family from 1990 – 1992, enabling the charity to increase its client base from 20 families to over 200 families per year. Restructuring the charity has led to it serving thousands of families over the past decades. He now serves on the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority Board and on the Board of WPBGo, the city’s mobility coalition. Through those board positions, he leverages extensive experience and knowledge in housing, planning, and transportation to help shape policies and projects that move the city and county forward.

That same perspective guides his thinking on how our region can maintain a strong economy while addressing the most pressing issues facing our residents and employers. “By understanding that transportation and land use are directly linked, the county’s leaders can help pave the way for more efficient transportation as well as housing that is more affordable for our families. Acting on this with intentional urgency is important.” But he notes that’s only part of the picture. “There are several issues that are going to be critical to a strong Palm Beach County going forward. Those include comprehensive transportation solutions. Now is the time to get ahead of this train coming down the tracks. Affordable housing not just for people with low incomes, which is essential, but also affordable housing for our kids who would like to start raising families here in Palm Beach County, and for all of those employees that our new corporate partners need to staff their organizations. Education must remain a cornerstone of our future success. We must also confront homelessness and mental health. This is a national problem that must be addressed regionally.”

It’s the desire to tackle these kinds of challenges head-on that led him to the Economic Council of Palm Beach County. “In about 2014, I read a story in the Palm Beach Post about the Economic Council wanting to work with the Palm Beach County School District to assist the School District by recommending strategic economic and administrative efficiency measures. This type of outreach was very impressive and led me to meet Danny Martell, and I joined the Economic Council soon after. I ended up chairing the School Efficiency Study and led the report presentations to the School Board.” Rick stayed active until 2019 and then took a hiatus before rejoining last year. “I hope that my experience and history can assist the Council to be a positive voice in showing the way to a better future for the county.”

That foundation, paired with a long career built on fixing, guiding, and anticipating what others couldn’t yet see, instilled in him a deep respect for thoughtful planning and decisive action, while never losing sight of the fact that it’s the people that make places work. He takes tremendous pride in investing in them, which is why the message he shares with the next generation mirrors what he’d tell his younger self, shaped by a lifetime of lessons. “Time passes by faster than you think. You think you have lots of time. You don’t. Be more intentional with your time. It’s the one commodity you can never buy more of. Be curious and receptive to doors opening.”