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TRANSACTIONS GEOPOINT SURVEYING ACQUIRES NORTH FLORIDA SURVEYING FIRM, EMERALD COAST ASSOCIATES GeoPoint Surveying announced the acquisition of Emerald Coast Associates, Inc. to its growing corporate footprint in the southeast U.S. ECA’s location in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida made it an ideal addition to GeoPoint as the company has been growing its north Florida business for the last three years after opening an office location in Panama City Beach in 2020 to support a long-term contract at Latitude Margaritaville Watersound. In addition, the experienced team at ECA had been providing excellent service to the area for more than 40 years which was desirable to GeoPoint who had been seeking to expand their work force to meet demand in the panhandle. “The opportunity to bring the ECA team
under the GeoPoint Surveying brand was not only great timing for our growth strategy, but also uniquely personal for me,” said David Williams, President of GeoPoint Surveying. “ECA leaders gave me my first job as a rodman in the early 90s, and with their exceptional training I later became a Crew Chief, which ultimately set me on the career path that led to today.” Seventeen employees were added to the GeoPoint team through this acquisition, including three individuals who will take on leadership roles as part of the transition: Dexter Lundy, Assistant Director of North Florida Operations; Daryl Burgis, Project Manager; Ray Howard, Chief of Crews. Awarded the Best Places to Work, Tampa Bay 200, and ‘Fast 50’ top growing companies by the Tampa Bay Business Journal , GeoPoint has developed a
premier reputation in the Florida survey industry, setting the standard for high performing staff, and access to forward- thinking technology and leading-edge equipment. One of the largest land surveying companies in the Southeast, GeoPoint Surveying, Inc. provides standard-setting survey services including subsurface utility location, remote sensing/ LiDAR, construction support and land development services, hydrographic surveys and geographic information systems for residential, commercial, energy, industrial, and various other public and private projects. GeoPoint is licensed in Florida and Texas, and currently has seven offices located in Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Panama City Beach, Santa Rosa Beach, and Hudson.
RESPONSBILITY, from page 7
they’re concerned about our capacity to do the work. Currently, DBS is one of the largest female-owned and operated African-American firms in Chicago. We are a full-service DBE engineering firm that is one of the most IDOT-prequalified in several complex areas. We evaluate our work carefully and ensure that the work we do is within our capacity to get the job done, while maintaining quality and efficiency. TZL: Who are you admiring right now in the AEC industry? Where do you see thought leadership and excellence? RJ: I admire all entrepreneurs who have made it in this industry. In the last five years, I’ve watched several of my colleagues who own WBE and MBE firms grow tremendously. While we may be competitors, I am so proud and happy to watch them grow and flourish. I don’t have an issue picking up the phone and calling any of those leaders to ask for advice or to use them as sounding boards. TZL: What role does your family play in your career? Are work and family separate, or is there overlap? RJ: As a second-generation owner of a family-owned company, work and family can never really be separate. You can imagine that family dinners have a lot of business talk. There have been many year-end details discussed during “Most mornings you can find me emptying the dishwasher, not because I have to, but because it demonstrates to employees that we’re all working toward the same goals. It also improves team morale.”
DB Sterlin staff participating in a 5K together.
holiday dinners. That said, when push comes to shove, family comes first. TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? RJ: Getting involved in every aspect of the business. No one can be great at everything. I had to learn to delegate and trust that people know their jobs and will do them well. TZL: In one word or phrase, what do you describe as your number one job responsibility? RJ: Responsibility. The reason I go to work every day is that I know that 100 people are relying on me to get a paycheck. The impact of DBS not being successful could change/affect our employees’ lives in an adverse way.
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THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 23, 2023, ISSUE 1473
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