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TRANSACT IONS CIVIL ENGINEERING FIRM MFS CONSULTING ENGINEERS & SURVEYOR, DPC ACQUIRES GEOD CORPORATION MFS Consulting Engineers & Surveyor, DPC , a multidiscipline, MBE/DBE/ SBE-certified civil engineering firm, announced that it has acquired GEOD Corporation , a provider of aerial photogrammetry/LIDAR mapping, land survey, subsurface utility markout, and 3D laser-scanning services. GEOD, which has been in operation for 60 years and has developed a reputation for the quality and accuracy of its services within the AEC industry, will continue to operate under its own brand as a subsidiary of MFS. All GEOD employees and leadership are being retained and GEOD will continue to maintain its offices in Newfoundland, New Jersey, while providing synergistic services with MFS. MFS offers to clients a range of civil, structural, and geotechnical engineering and construction management services. The GEOD acquisition augments MFS’s well-established land survey division, enabling it to serve customers more fully by expanding its survey capabilities to include aerial mapping/photogrammetry and subsurface utility engineering markout, and by more than doubling its team of survey professionals.
GEOD benefits by being part of a cross- discipline solutions design team that allows clients to receive engineering, surveying, and construction services from a single source. Additionally, MFS’s status as a Minority Business Enterprise, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, and Small Business Enterprise will enable GEOD to soon achieve these certifications as well, enabling it greater access to government contracting opportunities. According to Allied Market Research, the global AEC market is predicted to reach $15.84 billion by 2028. “We’re excited to incorporate GEOD’s capabilities with our own as we continue to grow our business,” said Michael Mudalel, PE, principal engineer and managing partner of MFS Engineers & Surveyors. “GEOD’s offerings and professional team are a great fit with our continual mission of providing high- quality services to clients. We look forward to continuing to serve GEOD’s client base as well as our own through both the MFS and GEOD brands, and to jointly explore new market sectors.” “MFS is known for its exceptional ability to manage large, cross-disciplinary projects
that combine engineering, surveying, and construction management services,” said John Emilius, Business Development Manager at GEOD Corporation. “The two firms are highly complementary to one another. Moving under the MFS helm will benefit our current and future clients by enabling us to deliver a broad range of A/E/C services and capabilities under a single umbrella for even greater efficiencies.” The acquisition of GEOD by MFS makes it one of the largest survey service providers in New Jersey and New York. MFS is an MBE/DBE/SBE-certified, multidiscipline civil engineering and design consulting firm that provides personalized services and solutions to meet the needs of its diverse clients. Founded in 2009, the company is headquartered in South Plainfield, New Jersey, and has branch offices in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico. MFS provides site-civil, structural, and geotechnical engineering, as well as land survey and construction management services. The firm has been on NJBiz’s list of “Best Places to Work” for six consecutive years and is currently ranked at No. 76 on the Engineering News- Record list of Top 500 New York Design Firms.
KEYAN ZANDY, from page 3
installations performed by fewer people. Prefabrication simplifies the construction process and better protects the schedule, but to leverage the benefits that prefabrication offers, trades must be involved early and be given the opportunity to offer input in design. Early involvement means early procurement of materials – and it means the trades are better able to procure the exact materials they need because the project is being designed virtually, before we even break ground. This is one big way early onboarding and the resulting collaboration pays dividends for the client. ❚ ❚ Trust. Early onboarding, collaboration, and communication are great in theory, but they require something essential to work, and that’s trust. This moves in all directions, not just from the top down, but also from the bottom up and laterally, through every seat at the table. Trust needs to be built over time, so that’s not a turn-key solution, but here’s what is: An openness to the possibility, and the active decisions that provide opportunities to create it. Openness means shelving preconceived notions and rethinking the often cynical and adversarial team dynamic of a construction project, a template we assume and default to. Opportunities to build trust are created when people spend time together talking, laughing, and interacting as people. Construction projects require teamwork, and teamwork requires trust. The upside to disruptions – even those as severe as what we’re living with today – is they push creativity and an evolution of the ways we think and work. New challenges need new approaches, and if ever there was a need for new ideas, trusted partnerships, and strategic problem-solving, it’s now. The opportunities are in reach if we stretch for them together. KEYAN ZANDY is chief operating officer for Skiles Group. Find him on LinkedIn.
and solutions to offset or at least mitigate these issues do exist: ❚ ❚ Early onboarding. The first and most important piece of advice is: Owners shouldn’t wait until CDs to involve the CM/GC and the trades. Early engagement and onboarding create opportunities for the entire project team to work together in a more beneficial and collaborative way, such as through design-assist. Then we’re better able to inform the owner and guide the design team toward solutions that will better maintain (or perhaps even improve) the budget and/ or the schedule, as well as avoid constructability issues. For example, changing from an insulated roofing system to a lightweight concrete system might shave precious weeks from the schedule, but these decisions must be made sooner, not later. By understanding the client’s priorities, we can facilitate proactive solutions to the problems we know are lurking out there, waiting to impair their project. Early onboarding saves time and money, and one great example of this is through prefabrication. ❚ ❚ Prefabrication. With longer lead times on materials and fewer “hands on deck” onsite, prefabrication offers layers of benefit. Prefabrication means that materials are being manufactured and assembled offsite, in advance, instead of in the field during the critical path – and this means quicker “We don’t have a crystal ball and the solutions to these complex problems remain unclear, but some ideas and solutions to offset or at least mitigate these issues do exist.”
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THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVEMBER 8, 2021, ISSUE 1416
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