Stanley Consultants 8 Balancing its long legacy with today’s challenges is what has kept 105-year-old Stanley Consultants at the top of the engineering industry, decade after decade. “We won’t compromise who we are,” said President and CEO Kate Harris, who was elected to her current post at the global engineering and consulting firm in 2017, taking over for Gayle Roberts, who became chair of the board. “We are incredibly respectful of our legacy. It’s so important as a foundation for our values – our long history provides us with equilibrium.” Founded as Central States Engineering in 1913, the Muscatine-based firm originally focused on regional jobs like drainage work. It went international in 1957 and never looked back, now counting offices not just across the United States, but in the Caribbean, the Middle East, South Asia and the Pacific region. Today, Stanley Consultants is the largest engineering firm in Iowa with more KATE HARRIS PRESIDENT & CEO than 900 member-owners in 30 offices worldwide. The company ranks No. 78 out of the top 500 engineering design firms in the U.S. and has been named among the nation’s top 50 designers in power, fossil fuel, water, wastewater and transportation by Engineering News-Record. “Those that know us love us,” Ms. Harris said. “People will be surprised to learn that Stanley Consultants has designed some of the largest projects in the world.” Some of the firm’s highest-profile projects include the world’s largest desalination water plant in Algeria and providing master planning and program management services to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reconstruct Iraq’s infrastructure following the second Gulf War. Stanley Consultants isn’t content to rest on its laurels, however. The firm is currently providing master planning services at Abu Dhabi International Airport, and its design of the new $95 million Fox River Bridge along the Illinois Tollway has garnered multiple awards, as well as a finalist nod for the American Society of Civil Engineers’ prestigious Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award. “With buoyant markets, Stanley Consultants is well positioned in the power and infrastructure markets with THE TEAM EXECUTIVE TEAM Kate Harris, President & CEO Gayle Roberts, Board Chair Bill Harper, VP & CFO BOARD OF DIRECTORS Gayle Roberts, Chair Steve Hammes Kate Harris Mike Helms Mike Hunzinger Douglas Smith Bob Uhler long-standing relationships and great expertise,” Ms. Harris said. “The firm is capitalizing on the strength within the company and supplementing it with new skills and acquisitions to ensure clients are provided with the best service, expertise and advice.” The firm is not averse to growth through acquisition, having purchased Hartwig & Associates, a Denver, Colorado-based engineering and construction firm in February 2016. But Ms. Harris said Stanley Consultants, which has bucked the trend toward “mega firms with many thousands of employees,” will continue to prioritize its values and clients over growth for growth’s sake. “Consolidation in the engineering industry has created a bifurcated market,” she said. “There are some mega firms with incredible depth and reach but they sometimes struggle to successfully provide some of the basic client services that come as second nature to Stanley Consultants.” Ms. Harris stressed that Stanley Consultants’ brand stands for longevity and ethics, as well as “smart and creative solutions.” “As a privately held company, we can take a longer partnership-based approach rather than relying on short-term returns,” she said. “This allows us to think more creatively, dream bigger dreams and do things in a bold, yet balanced way, calling on decades of experience and the appropriate risk management.” - Katharine Carlon 20 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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