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Area growth attracts international engineering firm
By Holly Fisher
Supplements Editor
It didn’t take long for ARCADIS to decide Charleston was a prime location for a new office.
This international engineering and consulting company is taking advantage of the Charleston area’s continued growth and development as it launches a local office focused on land development and water resources for government entities.
“The markets are hot here. Anything in the coastal area of the Sun Belt is hot,” said Samuel W. Hayes, area manager of the new ARCADIS location on Daniel Island.
With core missions in infrastructure, environment and facilities, ARCADIS is continually looking at available markets and whether it makes more sense to buy an existing firm or open its own office, Hayes explained. ARCADIS, which has corporate offices in the Netherlands, looked carefully at the Charleston economy and found it was incredibly strong.
About 18 months ago, the company decided to open a Charleston location and then tagged land development and water resources as the markets to penetrate.
“There is tremendous growth with the major national developers and home builders,” said Hayes, the former president of Trico Engineering Consultants. “We’re in here with engineers and surveyors providing those services to developers.”
In terms of water resources, ARCADIS works closely with local governments on wastewater treatment design, either designing new facilities or upgrades, he noted. The company recently completed the Wando Park above-ground water storage tank and pumping station for the town of Mount Pleasant. The 2.5 million-gallon tank is visible from Interstate 526.
Land development and water resources are complementary markets for ARCADIS to tackle because development drives the need for additional water treatment facilities, Hayes said.
ARCADIS opened its Charleston office in April and has 11 employees, with plans to grow to about 70 employees over the next three years. The company also has an office of 25 in Greenville, S.C. Larger ARCADIS offices populate the Southeast in Jacksonville, Fla., Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Charlotte, N.C.
“If you put all that together, we have the resources to handle any project thrown our way,” Hayes said.
Even though extra resources are just a state away, ARCADIS prefers to hire locally and puts a strong emphasis on its employees. With a shortage of civil engineers and surveyors, ARCADIS has to be competitive both in terms of salary and benefits.
Hayes said the company has unlimited paid sick time. The company also places focuses on taking care of employees’ careers.
“We spend a lot of money on training and the career path,” he said. “We develop a strategy for people to help provide them with an opportunity for them to reach their career goals. I dare say not many Charleston companies go to that length to keep their employees happy and satisfied in their careers.”
ARCADIS’ commitment to its employees is evident in a new partnership the company has forged with the University of California at Los Angeles’ Department of Engineering, Information Systems & Technical Management to develop an online project management course for ARCADIS’ project managers.
“Profits are a byproduct of doing good work and taking care of the employees,” Hayes said. “You can put the money in your back pocket or reinvest in your company and employees.”
Holly Fisher is supplements editor for the Business Journal. E-mail her at hfisher@charlestonbusiness.com.
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