The three of us - my business partners Allen Davis and Steve Colvin and I - started (it) about four year ago. We all came from another local engineering firm ... Malone Finkle Eckhardt & Collins. We provide mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, and (we all three) have architectural engineering degrees from K State. ...
We do some energy consulting, and I think it's becoming bigger now, especially with businesses trying to tighten their budgets and reduce costs. We have four other employees. We share space and some resources with Mettemeyer Engineering, which does structural (engineering). We feed off each other a little bit and work on some of the same projects.
What's your role at Colvin Jones Davis?
Other than production - which, the three principals are still very involved in production - just client relations, providing proposals for new projects. Really, our clients are the architects, and that's who we work for most of the time.
What types of projects does your firm handle?
Most of our projects end up being local, but we go wherever the local architects go, and that takes us all over the country, basically.
Another one of our strengths is that we're well diversified, so we can go from a pretty complicated health care project to a retail project to a hospitality project.
Can you tell us about some recent projects featuring your firm's engineering designs?
We just finished design, and they're (starting) construction on the new arena at Drury University, the O'Reilly Family Event Center. ... We're working on some air- conditioning projects for Springfield Public Schools, Campbell Elementary. We're working on the new Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. That's an interesting project (with) Butler, Rosenbury & Partners.
How is the economic recession challenging your business?
Probably about the same as it is everyone. When projects were abundant, architects had all the work that they needed, and we didn't have to market ourselves. When we started four years ago, we didn't have to really do any marketing, because we'd all been in the community for several years, so we had contacts and good relationships with architects. It wasn't very hard to get work. ... Now that the work is drying up, I guess, we're trying to show how we can provide a better service than the next firm. We've tried to branch out and talk to some other local architects and try to get work for them. We don't do much work directly for owners, but we have done some ... in the past, and it's another avenue that we try to pursue as much as we can. That's where the energy consulting comes into play. When times are slow, people aren't building new buildings like they were. They are trying to take what they've got and make it more efficient.
How does engineering work fit into an overall building project?
In some ways, I think the architect probably has a tougher job than we do. ... They have to go out and find (projects). They hear of someone who wants to build a building, or they have a developer who has a site. ... They have to put a lot of work into presenting their services, their ideas and trying to have that owner choose them. For an engineer, we are consultants to that architect, so we are not usually involved in securing the work. ... Really the aesthetics, the design of the building, is primarily dictated by the architect. We'll have a little bit of input as far as equipment that goes on the roof or the lighting that's in a certain space. For the most part, (the architect's) idea is already there ... and we make the building work and fit our systems - air conditioning, lighting, plumbing, ductwork - into the building.
What goals do you have for Colvin Jones Davis?
I think we want to stay local for the most part. We want to focus on local clients and grow from those. I think as far as size, we'd probably like to be a little bit bigger, but just as big as needed to handle the work from our local clients.
Tell us about your community involvement and your family.
I'm involved with the Springfield chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. I'm married to Mandi, and we have three kids: Quinten, 8; Sabrina, 5; and Jocelyn, 19 months.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
