MondaMonday,y, MaMay 2y 21,1, 20122012

Robert Ranson Jr. worked at an engineering and design consulting fi rm about three decades ago, cor-recting errors and omissions found in projects from engineering fi rms.

The engineering and construction phases of the projects, he noticed, seem disjointed.

That disconnect gave Ranson the reason to start Progressive Design Inc. in 1986 to deliver construct-ible, maintainable and well-designed engineering and design projects to clients.

“Many engineering fi rms design things in a vacu-um,” said John Waddill, executive vice president and chief operating offi cer of the Chesterfi eld County-based company.

“They never go into the fi eld,” he said. “Most of what we are doing is modifying something that cur-rently exists, helping to improve it. Our main deliv-erable is a design package that the client can go to construction with.”

Rudy Hawkins, president and founder of Rudy L. Hawkins Electrical Contractors Inc. in Chester, said he likes the way Progressive Design bridges “the gap between design and implementation.”

“Progressive Design has a stellar reputation in the marketplace as an excellent engineering and design fi rm,” he said. “They are well-connected with most all of the area’s large industrial facilities and are known for their hands-on experience and effi ciency.”

Steve Sadler, president of Four Square Industrial Constructors in Chesterfi eld, worked with Progres-sive Design on several projects.

“They are very adaptable to the customer’s needs,” he said. “They are schedule-driven and knowledge-able. I’ve been happy with the quality of work and their timeliness.”

One way Progressive Design tries to be distinct is through its employees, Waddill said. The company

hires people who have worked in the trades, such as pipefi tters, welders and electricians, and teaches them to be designers.

“That is what makes us uniquely different,” Wad-dill said. “We fi nd people that have real-world prob-lem-solving experience.”

The company has grown from two employees to more than 70 workers. It started as a small local en-gineering fi rm and now is a regional consulting fi rm that provides services throughout the United States as well as in Europe and China.

Waddill hopes to increase the number of employ-ees to about 100 in the next couple of years.

In 2002, he joined the fi rm after it lost nearly all of its presence in the Richmond marketplace.

“When I came, I put a plan into place to focus on a fi nite number of clients in the Richmond market that were strategically selected because of their po-tential to take us beyond Richmond,” Waddill said. “It took about three to fi ve years to get fi ve clients in the fold. We moved into other facilities for those cli-ents, which helped take us out of the state.”

Progressive Design now has 10 to 12 core clients.

“One client alone has 50 to 100 end-users,” Waddill said.

The company works with Fortune 500 compa-nies in industries such as aerospace, food process-ing, fi lms, chemicals, tobacco, pharmaceuticals and power. It offers a range of services through its pro-cess, mechanical, electrical, civil/structural and con-struction management teams.

Revenue has increased a minimum of 25 percent every year since 2005.

“Our growth over the last seven years as an orga-nization has been textbook linear growth,” Waddill said.

In November 2011, the Chesterfi eld Business Council recognized Progressive Design as Business of the Year for being a leader in growth, innovation, overcoming adversity and turn-around success.

Progressive Design was originally in the Arbore-tum and the Boulders offi ce parks but moved to the Chesterfi eld County Airport Industrial Park.

“It’s proven to be a great location strategically for our clients,” Waddill said.

Traderr Names

Bridging gap in design, constructionProgressive Designengineering firmimproves efficiency

BY JOAN TUPPONCESpecial correspondent

Progressivevv DesignInc.What is it?: Multi-disciplined engineeringand design consultingfirm

Location: 8849 White-pine Road, ChesterfieldCounty

Employees: 70, includingowner

Owner: Robert RansonJr.

Contact: (804) 330-8055 or www.progres-sive-design.com

MARK GORMUS/TIMES-DISPATPP CH

Havingaa employees with real-world problem-solving experience sets Progressive De-sign Inc. apart, say COO John Waddill Jr.rr (left)ff and President Robert Ranson Jr.rr