Congratulations, Principals Stephen L. Schoch, AIA, LEED AP and Stephen Finkelman, PE, LEED AP, CEM, as you announce your retirements!

First, we toast Principal Stephen L. Schoch, AIA, LEED AP, who will be retiring on Friday, May 29th, after 42 years in the industry, all of which has been spent in service to our firm.

Steve devoted his entire career to excellence in affordable and supportive housing, and his work is regarded as among the best examples of design for the disabled, held up as an example of excellence on a national level. His influence as an advocate has helped institute changes in the regulations that allocate funding for affordable housing in New Jersey – giving projects that integrate Supportive Housing into their communities a competitive advantage.

Steve served as Managing Principal of Thriven Design from the retirement of Beth Kitchen in 2011 until May 2022. He is credited with expanding Thriven Design into a multidisciplinary design firm with strong footholds in student and market-rate housing, as well as affordable, senior, and supportive housing. Over the course of his career, he designed more than 66,000 apartments for families, seniors, students, veterans, and individuals with supportive needs, and served as a trusted advisor to numerous developers and nonprofit project teams. Congratulations, Steve, on your impact and a career of meaningful, memorable design!

Principal Stephen Finkelman, PE, LEED AP, CEM, will be retiring Tuesday, June 30th, after 62 years in Engineering, which included time spent as a Director, Manager, Consultant, Commissioning Agent, Forensic Engineer, and head of his own MEP consulting firm, with offices in Philadelphia and Las Vegas. Congratulations, Steve, on achieving excellence in an incredible array of professional arenas and forging a career as multi-faceted as your considerable engineering design expertise!

Steve joined our firm in 2009 to lead growth and development of our Engineering team as Principal and Director of Engineering. He enhanced our team with his renowned industry expertise in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Energy Consulting, and Commissioning, gained from leadingprojects in the commercial, health care, public, industrial, educational, hotel, casino, residential, energy, environmental, and pharmaceutical markets.

At Thriven Design, Steve has provided leadership, mentorship, and was instrumental in the design, engineering, and testing of alternate energy conservation systems for demonstration and practical applications, such as ground source geothermal systems, thermal ice storage systems, solar domestic hot water systems, solar photovoltaic systems, and energy recovery systems.

Steve was also active in research and education related to sustainable design, commissioning, and energy conservation, teaching sustainable engineering design at Jefferson University.