2014 Business Class Honoree: Anderson Engineering Inc.

The new year has historically brought big things for Anderson Engineering Inc. On Jan. 2, 2013, the 60-year-old engineering company completed the purchase of consulting firm Sprenkle & Associates Inc. The addition of 16 employees, along with Sprenkle’s offices in Carthage and Monett, propelled Anderson to the second-largest engineering firm in the Ozarks.

Jan. 1, 2014, once again ushered in positive change with the enactment of Anderson’s retooled employee ownership plan. Combining elements of a traditional 401(k) plan with Anderson’s long-standing stock ownership plan, the company now contributes a minimum of 3 percent of each participating employee’s salary into their account each year.

The progressive approach rewards the personal ownership and investment each staff member shows toward the company’s high-touch service, says Anderson CEO Steven Brady.

“The most important part of what we do is about the personal relationship with our clients, be it a city or company or private individual.” he says. “It’s about them knowing us and being comfortable with who we are as a firm. That can’t be over-emphasized.”

That personal attention to relationships is a hallmark of the 71-member firm that was originally formed as Tri-Lakes Concrete Co. in 1954. Engineering was added in 1958 and its offerings have evolved to focus on a full breadth of civil engineering and surveying services, which it provides to a variety of individuals, companies and municipalities in the Ozarks and far beyond. The mix has brought success that includes revenue growth of 40 percent last year and profit growth of 92.5 percent. Anderson  has posted double-digit profit percentages for the past three consecutive years.

Licensed for site development services in 41 states, Anderson is one of numerous Springfield businesses that have been buoyed by the ongoing success of O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY). Brady says roughly 20 percent of Anderson’s business is tied to the nationwide expansion of O’Reilly, which opened 380 stores in those same 41 states over the past two years.

Back in the Ozarks, Anderson continues to refine its business to fit its growth, establishing departmental accounting and expense systems, while further emphasizing the personal relationships that define the business both inside the offices and beyond. Each of the firm’s 16 directors individually support a cadre of philanthropic, social and community organizations and Brady’s son Neil – current company president – is in his one-year term as president of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers.

As a corporate sponsor, the company supports a wide array of causes, from environmental to educational, human services to the arts, in addition to providing staff time off for service commitments during business hours.

“Of course, the work still has to get done,” says Brady. “But we’ve found [service] to be a good thing for our employees and our company, and we support it whenever we can.”[[In-content Ad]]