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The Therapeutic Learning Center, a division of the ARC of St. Johns, in St. Augustine, Florida. Matthews Design Group designed the facility. / Matthews Design Group
Atlantic shores If at first you don’t succeed, don’t give up. Cast your net again and chances are you’ll catch another fish.
A CONVERSATION WITH ROB MATTHEWS.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
The Zweig Letter: How have you seen the compa- ny evolve since its founding? Rob Matthews: In 2005, MDG was formed as a land development engineering firm. Most clients were private sector. However, I knew from previous employers that diversification, in client type and services offered, was the key to success. We grew very quickly in 2005 to 2008 due to the boom in the housing market, but were hit hard by the eco- nomic downturn. By 2009, MDG had been reduced by 70 percent. The need to diversify was imminent. We ventured into forensic engineering and start- ed pursuing municipal continuing service contracts in 2007. We landed our first municipal contract in 2008 and that trend continued. With the private sector screeching to a halt, we focused on writing RFQs for municipal contracts. Today, we currently have continuing services contracts with a number of public sector clients which accounts for about 30 percent of our workload.
R ob Matthews, president of Matthews Design Group, Inc. (#10 Best Firm Civil for 2016) worked for several different companies, both big and small, before forming his 27-person firm based in St. Augustine, Florida. He says that while he liked the opportunities available to him at a large company, he preferred the more intimate, personal feel of a small one. “I always wanted to build something from scratch to make it the best of what I saw in both these large and small companies. And with that in mind, MDG was formed.” “I always wanted to build something from scratch to make it the best of what I saw in both these large and small companies,” Matthews says. “And with that in mind, MDG was formed.”
Rob Matthews, President, Matthews Design Group, Inc.
TZL: What are your key leadership strengths?
THE ZWEIG LETTER Febru
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