A whirlwind of uncertainty landed on us in 2020, and we quickly learned how to adapt and be flexible. Although 2020 included a lot of the unknown, our team encountered several milestones throughout the year. The most important highlight was adding a full-service branch office in Huntsville, Alabama.
During 2020, our team attended award events hosted by ABC of North Alabama and ACEC. Sain was recognized with the following awards:
- ACEC National Recognition Award for I-59/20 Central Business District Bridge Replacement
- ACEC of Alabama 1st Place State Award for I-59/20 Central Business District Bridge Replacement
- ABC of North Alabama Award of Excellence (Engineering) – Yulista Build-to-Suit Campus at Redstone Gateway in Huntsville
- ABC of Alabama Excellence in Construction Award for Civil Engineering – Yulista Build-to-Suit Campus (1st Place)
Other highlights included:
- We added ten staff members this year.
- Infrastructure Project Manager Tony Montanaro was presented with the 4th annual Spirit of Lauren Award.
- Our staff was very involved in community and professional organizations.
- Erin Curry, from our Pulaski, Tennessee office, continued to serve on the Giles County Commission.
- Due to the pandemic, we did not host our annual client fish fry. In honor of our clients and friends, our owners made donations to the following five charities – Ashville Community Mission, Brother Bryan Mission, Designs for Hope, Sowing Seeds of Hope, and Urban Purpose.
- We continued to expand our work for municipalities, counties, and DOT’s with new projects in Auburn, Dothan, Opelika, Prattville, Huntsville, Birmingham, Hoover, Mountain Brook, Phenix City, St. Clair County, Calhoun County, Autauga County, Elmore County, and other cities/counties.
- The Industrial Economic Development market continued to be a bright spot for us in 2020. This included work with Ryan Companies, Hoar Construction, Dunn Building Company, ARCO, Doster, and others.
- We assisted our clients in obtaining funding on grant projects, including TAP and industrial access road grants.
- We worked on several residential subdivision projects and provided GIS services for Broadband masterplans.
- Our work in the commercial sector included projects with Retail Specialists and Capstone Real Estate Investments.
- We continued to grow and diversify our transportation planning and design services in Alabama and Tennessee with new project assignments from TDOT, ALDOT, and municipalities.
While we are optimistic heading into 2021, the biggest challenge that remains is COVID-19 and its impact on the industry. We recently completed key client interviews with many of our clients in preparation for this year. A few market observations are as follows:
- The residential subdivision market is booming.
- Retail is repositioning.
- The industrial market will remain active.
- Expect growth in “smart” distribution and e-commerce services.
We appreciate our friends and clients who have helped to sustain our business this past year and going forward. We wish all of you a healthy and better 2021.