AESI - Quad State Business Journal Featured AESI in Annual Report

		Quad State Business Journal Featured AESI in Annual Report Civil and Structural Engineering Firm Showcased Quad State Business Journal Annual Report July 2003 Associated Engineering Sciences, Inc. (AESI) is a Hagerstown-based civil and structural engineering firm with 15 employees. The firm provides consulting and design services in not only the Quad-State area, but also in Ohio, Illinois and in China. Past AESI projects include the Martinsburg Mall; The Greens of Greencastle Golf Course; a five-story parking garage in Charleston, W. Va.; a 620-foot bridge, which is the longest county-owned bridge in Western Maryland; and the Friendship Technology Park being developed by Allegheny Energy just outside of Hagerstown. Three current AESI projects include Mountainside Teleport Corp., the International Masonry Institute expansion, and the newly opened Mental Health Center in Hagerstown. These projects will have an impact on the surrounding area for many years. In March, AESI won the coveted "Vision Award" at the Washington County Business Awards, for its environmentally sensitive design of a $5 million bridge over the Conococheage Creek. Mountainside Teleport Corp., a subsidiary of Intelsat Global Service Corp., is building 12 satellite dishes and a support facility in the Friendship Technology Park. AESI Vice President Rich Reichenbaugh said, "This has been an exciting project for AESI and Washington County. This is a very big, high-tech development that will cause other companies to look here. We've been working with the Friendship Technology Park for over four years, designing infrastructure, road designs, and subdivisions. It's attractive for corporate clients. It's close to the metropolitan areas; has transportation infrastructure, on I-70; dramatically cheaper land costs; and yet, it still has a rural feel." Intelsat is working with AESI on a planned July ribbon-cutting ceremony. The International Masonry Institute (IMI) plans to purchase 26 acres of land and construct two additional buildings for its masonry job-training program at the former Fort Ritchie site. IMI has been leasing buildings since 1997 from the PenMar Development Corp., which is redeveloping the closed fort. The IMI expansion is projected to create 200 new jobs at the institute and among its suppliers. According to Reichenbaugh, "The challenge is to have the land deeded to PenMar from the Army Corps of Engineers. It's a long and drawn out process. But until it has title to the land, PenMar can’t subdivide and can’t have the site plan approved." AESI is providing all the on-going site planning, storm water management, and other civil engineering design for the multi-million dollar expansion. The Mental Health Center just celebrated a May grand opening in Hagerstown. AESI has been project manager for the entire design and building project. AESI worked with the organization to determine needs, hire the architect, do site design, handle contractor bids, and provide construction management on site. The facility is 27,000 square-feet, and serves more than 1,350 patients throughout the Tri-State area. Many of AESI's clients are residential builders. According to Marketing Director Tom Riford, "We provide services for several large residential developments, but also work with single- home building projects. We've been involved with some developments since their beginning, and work with the owners from original concept, right through the permit stages, the construction efforts, to the finished product." Riford also said that several municipalities in the four states utilize AESI's services. "We provide engineering consulting services for Mercersburg, Boonsboro, Smithsburg, and several other jurisdictions in the area. We also have open-end projects with Maryland's State Highway Administration and Frederick County (MD)." In addition to civil and structural engineering, Associated Engineering Sciences, Inc. also offers surveying, landscape architecture, environmental services and construction inspection. The AESI name was chosen in 1971, to identify the company's broad-based capabilities. Structural engineer, Wilford Sheng, P.E., who had joined AESI in 1988, and Richard Reichenbaugh bought the company in 1996. AESI President Sheng was born in Shanghai, China, and among the first Chinese students allowed to study in the U.S. when Sino-American relations thawed in the 1970's. AESI was certified in 2001 as a Maryland Department of Transportation Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and also as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE). AESI is also certified in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This certification can be helpful when pursuing projects that are government-funded, and have DBE/MBE targeted goals. The Hagerstown-based company has recently grown, adding professional and administrative staff. Additionally, the company made a conscious decision to remain in downtown Hagerstown. According to AESI President, Wilford Sheng, "We recently purchased our office building. We looked for a headquarters office throughout the area, and investigated many possibilities. However, after a lot of soul-searching, we made the decision to stay in downtown Hagerstown, and continue to grow our surveying and engineering firm right here." The three-story brick building is located at 34 West Franklin Street, and is 5,700 square feet. "This building was constructed at the turn of the last century, and we are making a commitment to not only save this historic building, but to make improvements" says Sheng. "We had been leasing, and had been looking to move. We were contacted to look at West Virginia and Pennsylvania buildings, but we decided to remain in Hagerstown. We had contacted the city and county EDC offices, but honestly, our decision was made with no city or county input. There are downtown Hagerstown challenges: parking, construction, and other concerns. We certainly could have saved a little money by moving. But, there’s a lot to be said about any company that makes a decision like this...a business decision that is partly made because of feelings. "We want Hagerstown to be as successful as it can be. Leaving town, like the scores of companies that have left during the many years that AESI has been here, won’t help Hagerstown. If Hagerstown and Washington County are to be successful, we hope that we can benefit from that success." When they bought the company, Reichenbaugh says, "Wilford and I had serious conversations about how we had benefited during our careers and now it was time to start putting back into the community. Wilford took over more engineering to allow me opportunities to go out into the community. When I started getting involved in 1996, I began with the chamber of commerce to determine what was out there. Joining committees, through evolution, led to chairing committees, then to the board and then executive committee and through these, exposure to other things." In addition to his chamber involvement, Reichenbaugh recently retired as a board member of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission. He currently belongs to the Home Builder's Association, the Greater Hagerstown Committee, the County Engineers Association of Maryland, the county’s Public Schools Strategic Planning Committee, the Land Use Committee and chairs the Consolidation of Government Task Force. Reichenbaugh recently completed Leadership Maryland, an eight-month leadership development program for private and public sector executives. "Wilford and I went into community involvement with the idea that this was a completely selfless endeavor. But the outcome was that AESI became more recognized in the community so it also turned out to be a terrific marketing effort too." During the past year, Reichenbaugh won the "Small Business Person of the Year Award" from the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Contact AESI at: 301-797-9160 or toll free 800-749-2224. Check it out on the web: www.aesi-mdusa.com. -used by permission, Quad State Business Journal, July 2003 << back to news