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The Only Thing Constant in Life is ChangeIn mid-June, Arnie Rustin and I announced the pending acquisition of The JD White Company, Inc., (JDW) by BERGER/ABAM Engineers Inc. On June 30, my role as JDW's president ended when I was appointed a BERGER/ABAM vice president and manager of the new JD White, a division of BERGER/ABAM. During this time, friends and clients have asked why I was making the transition. Over the years, other firms had broached various scenarios with me for potential buyouts and mergers, but none of them felt right. I was looking for a partnership that would allow JDW to continue and expand on its preeminence in its chosen areas of expertise, let me concentrate on client relations and particular projects, and assure stability for JDW employees. The acquisition by BERGER/ABAM offered the greatest potential for a good fit to achieve these goals. Beyond the changes involved for BERGER/ABAM, JDW, and our employees, what would the acquisition do for our clients? The services offered by the two firms are diverse, but they fit strategically. Historically, BERGER/ABAM and JDW found the need to partner with each other, or with similar firms, to offer the same range of services now provided by our combined firms. And, we can offer these enhanced solutions to our clients across a broader geographical area. With the acquisition, BERGER/ABAM added Vancouver to its existing offices in Federal Way and Seattle, Washington; Portland , Oregon ; Las Vegas , Nevada ; and Houston , Texas . BERGER/ABAM has clients and projects throughout North America, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and-now-a wider acquaintanceship in Southwest Washington. Maybe the change that clients of BERGER/ABAM and the former JDW will notice most is that they now can contract with just one firm for an entire project. The firm, with its new JD White division, can now take a project with complete in-house resources all the way from site selection right through strategic planning, preliminary and final design engineering, public outreach, permitting, and construction management and support. Because BERGER/ABAM and its JD White division provide a complete range of services, the client's need for subconsultant expertise is greatly reduced. For the former JDW's long-time clients, this means access to a whole new level of additional project resources-such as the unbelievable breadth of BERGER/ABAM's engineering expertise, as well as enhanced public involvement services and expanded graphic and website design capabilities. However, clients will continue to enjoy the same full range of project resources they could expect from JDW prior to the transition. John White is the Vice President of JD White, a division of BERGER/ABAM Engineers. He was the founder of the JD White Company in 1976. This article was originally published in the BERGER/ABAM Inside Out Newsletter |
