GAI Consultants, Inc.

GAI Consultants, Inc.

Type	Privately held; employee-owned
Industry	Engineering and Environmental Consulting
Founded	1958
Number of locations	21+ offices throughout the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeastern U.S.
Key people	Gary DeJidas, PE, President and CEO
Services	computer programming website development construction management, inspection, testing cultural resources management design-build delivery system environmental engineering and studies geotechnical and structural engineering graphic design, video production, public outreach land development and landscape architecture LEED Engineering and Planning project scheduling, data management, training/facilitation mechanical and electrical engineering ROW acquistition and property management surveying, GIS, GPS transportation planning and design utility management consulting water resources and wastewater management
Revenue	US$80 million
Number of employees	800+
Website	www.gaiconsultants.com

GAI Consultants, Inc. (GAI) is an employee-owned engineering and environmental consulting firm specializing energy, nuclear, transportation, real estate, water, municipal, government, industry, education, and health care. GAI also offers the following services: design-build, environmental studies and permitting, cultural resources, planning, survey and GIS, landscape architecture, land development, electric transmission, LEED engineering and planning, highway and bridge design, traffic planning, as well as mechanical, structural, and electrical engineering, construction inspection and management, utility management consulting, and water/wastewater engineering and consulting.

The company was founded in Homestead (Pittsburgh) Pennsylvania and sits on a former brownfield site at The Waterfront on the Monongahela River. This location is directly across the river from another brownfield site, Summerset at Frick Park, an award winning 238-acre (0.96 km²), $269 million residential development for which GAI is the site, civil, traffic, environmental, and geotechnical engineer.

In late 2009, construction began on the GAI Building, the firm's new office space in Orlando, Florida. GAI worked with Ustler Development and the City of Orlando to build the first privately developed green office in downtown Orlando. The GAI Building opened for business in April 2011.

In addition to its largest operations in Pittsburgh and Orlando, GAI maintains offices in Boca Raton and Jacksonville, Florida; Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Scottsburg, and Valparaiso, Indiana; Erlanger, Kentucky; Mt. Laurel, New Jersey; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cincinnati, Ohio; Altoona, Cranberry, Murrysville, Philadelphia, and Canonsburg (Southpointe), Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; Charleston, West Virginia; and Green Bay and Mayville, Wisconsin.^[1]

History

1958

A group of six Carnegie Mellon University graduate students and their professor formed E. D'Appolonia & Associates, an engineering consulting firm in Wilkinsburg (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania that specialized in foundation and soil mechanics engineering. This union, on August 28, 1958, set in motion the future for what would become GAI Consultants, Inc. U.S. Steel Corporation became one of its first clients, requesting specialized services in foundation engineering for its many facilities in the southwestern Pennsylvania region.

1962

Coal-fired power generation stations across the county experienced environmental and engineering problems with coal combustion byproduct (fly ash) disposal in landfills. GAI embarked on landmark research into the engineering properties of flyash, setting the stage for the creation of innovative and beneficial uses for flyash. Duquesne Light Company and Allegheny Power became loyal clients forging a partnership that would endure for the next 50 years. GAI began work for the nuclear industry when Westinghouse Electric Company hired GAI to complete concrete analysis for one of its nuclear containment facilities.

1964

The young engineers who originally founded E. D’Appolonia Associates broke away to form General Analytics, Inc., and named Dr. Anthony M. DiGioia as President. The technical expertise of these young principals, including geologist Richard E. Gray, set the foundation for GAI's future reputation as a technically innovative firm providing solutions to the unique engineering needs of the coal, steel, and electric utilities industries.

1968

The firm grew to 65 engineers with the acquisition of Systems Planning Inc., a civil engineering firm, adding comprehensive transportation planning, regional planning, and sewer and water infrastructure design services to General Analytics' existing array of disciplines. GAI's unique professional staff, most holding doctoral or master’s degrees, continued to attract premier clients such as U.S. Steel Corporation and Rockwell International.

1969

As one of the founding firms of ASFE, General Analytics played an active role in the organization as it lead the way to new contracting concepts and limitation of liability for the engineering industry. Embracing risk management techniques, such as alternative dispute resolution and promoting quality-focused programs including peer reviews, ASFE was recognized by ”Engineering News-Record” as one of the most innovative construction industry association programs ever formed.

1974

Aware of the continuing need to address environmental issues, GAI added Environmental Studies to its wide array of technical expertise to respond to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 that required federal agencies to perform Environmental Impact Statements. GAI's first work in this area was for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District. GAI set itself apart from other engineering and environmental consulting firms by adding a Cultural Resources Management Group, and completed its first archaeological excavation on prehistoric sites at East Fork Lake for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District.

1982

To take advantage of the “building boom” in central Florida following the opening of Walt Disney World, GAI opened a subsidiary in Orlando, Florida through the acquisition of Thigpen & Treon, Inc. GAI Consultants-Southeast, Inc. opened at 1833 Edgewater Drive in Orlando, offering site development, structural, and transportation engineering and surveying services.

1985

GAI Consultants opened its third office in neighboring West Virginia (Charleston) to pursue additional opportunities in the chemical and mining industries, and to provide full-service transportation and environmental engineering to state and local agencies there.

1986

GAI acquired the transportation and construction monitoring divisions of Green International Inc., an engineering firm based in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. This doubled GAI's highway and bridge design capabilities and brings construction monitoring to the wide array of engineering consulting services offered by the firm, opening the door for state Department of Transportation (DOT) work.

1992

GAI Consultants opened a fourth office in Fort Wayne, Indiana to serve environmental engineering and remediation clients in the Midwest. A decade later this office would play an active role in the development of an alternative fuel source – ethanol.

1998

With steady growth in the Central Florida market, GAI's subsidiary, GAI Consultants-Southeast Inc., decided to expand its facilities and establish an office in Jacksonville, Florida to provide consulting engineering in the north Florida region. The office opened with an emphasis on construction engineering and inspection services, with plans for continued growth into a full-service engineering office.

2002

GAI opened a new office in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia) that provides construction monitoring services, and was hired to provide construction inspection for the US Route 222 construction projects in Philadelphia and Allentown. GAI's involvement with the projects led to the successful completion of critical infrastructure improvements to two major transportation links in the region.

2003

In a corporate-wide consolidation effort, GAI Consultants, Inc. merged with its subsidiary, GAI Consultants-Southeast, Inc., to reorganize the company’s processes for providing premier engineering consulting services to its clients. GAI introduced a new brand and logo. Gary M. DeJidas, P.E. was named President and CEO of the newly organized firm, which retained the name GAI Consultants, Inc.

2006

GAI opened two more Midwest offices in Cincinnati, Ohio and Erlanger, Kentucky.

2007

GAI acquired Hartman Consulting & Design of Orlando, Florida, adding environmental engineering expertise in the Florida offices. Hartman Design specialized in wastewater management and provided GAI with a new service area for its clients. In eastern Pennsylvania, GAI acquired Valley Forge Laboratories of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and added geotechnical and materials testing laboratory services to the growing Philadelphia office. A third acquisition, BBS Engineering of Cincinnati, Ohio, added mechanical engineering and boiler design services to GAI's capabilities.

2009

GAI completed a merger with The Bonar Group, an engineering and environmental consulting firm located in Indiana. Bonar Group President Tom Cicero, P.E. became Vice President and manager of GAI’s Midwest operations, which included offices in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. GAI opened new offices in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (now GAI-Murrysville); Charlotte, North Carolina; Boca Raton, Florida; and Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. The firm reaches 650 employees.

2010

GAI began construction on a new office building for its Orlando operations. The sustainable facility was designed for LEED certification and was the first privately developed green office in Orlando, Florida. The GAI Building opened for business in April 2011. GAI opened new offices in Richmond, Virginia; and Altoona, Canonsburg (Southpointe), and Cranberry, Pennsylvania. During this time, GAI reorganized into a regional structure to better manage the continuing growth. GAI operated a total of 19 offices in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeastern United States.

2011

GAI expanded its Midwest operations into Wisconsin by acquiring EnPower, LLC, an energy and environmental firm whose key clients are involved in electric transmission and generation. The acquisition added GAI offices in Green Bay and Mayville, Wisconsin. In April, the GAI Building opened in Orlando, Florida. In September, GAI opened a new office in Columbus, Ohio. The firm reaches 800 employees.

2012

GAI transitioned to a regional market-based organization, focusing on eight market sectors: Energy, Nuclear, Transportation, Real Estate, Municipal, Government, Industry, and Institutions. In January, GAI completed the acquisition of two firms – Lee-Simpson Associates, Inc., based in DuBois, Pennsylvania, and Real Estate Research Consultants, Inc. (RERC), located in Orlando, Florida – to expand GAI’s capabilities in airport design and real estate management. President and CEO, Gary DeJidas celebrated 40 years of service with GAI.

References