Mitchell Bohannon will be stepping down as CEO this month after leading the firm for the past seven (hard to believe it March 2007) years. During his tenure as CEO, Bohannon successfully guided the firm through many challenges including the Great Recession and the largest housing collapse since the Great Depression. Under his leadership, Thomas & Hutton has emerged as a stronger company with a more diverse client base and an expanded geographic footprint.

Succeeding Bohannon as CEO and President is Sam McCachern. McCachern has over 28 years of experience with the firm and has a diverse array of senior management experience including the positions of COO and CFO. He leads Thomas & Hutton’s community engagement and philanthropic efforts by example. McCachern chaired the 2012 Savannah United Way Annual Campaign, was 2012-2013 president of the Rotary Club of Savannah, and currently serves on the Savannah Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee and Board of the Savannah Economic Development Authority.

With the assistance of the firm’s Chairman of the Board and others, Bohannon and McCachern have been working through a process over the past eight months to ensure a smooth transition of leadership. McCachern has met with employees and clients to ensure Thomas & Hutton continues to provide the highest level of customer service while maintaining the firm’s leadership in technical innovation.

Last month Bohannon and McCachern sat down and offered their insights on Thomas & Hutton, both past and future.

Q: SAM, YOU’VE BEEN WITH THOMAS & HUTTON FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS. MITCHELL, YOU’VE BEEN WITH US FOR ALMOST 40. IN THAT TIME, HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THINGS CHANGE?

Mitchell: Technology is definitely the answer. When I came to work here in November 1975, Thomas & Hutton did not own a computer. I had some exposure in college and that was more than most people here. All of our drawings were done in pen and pencil on Mylar and vellum. Now we draw nothing by hand. Calculations that used to take hours and hours are now virtually instant. The speed of analysis has meant engineering firms can perform better alternative analysis and find more cost-favorable solutions.

Also, I’m excited by the diversification our firm has achieved in the last five years. Our business in 2007 and 2008 was largely private-sector and housing–related. With the housing downturn, some of our big clients went out of business, so we diversified into other markets and skill sets. We have seen quite a bit of growth in the municipal and transportation market and we’ve been able to make great strides in the energy market.

Sam: Historically, our strengths were in large-scale, multi-phase projects such as planned communities and complex projects. We had many clients with multi-year projects. We developed teams to serve those clients. With the recession, projects got smaller, so we changed our structure to do projects differently. Our staff developed new production skills to go along with project management skills.

Information is critical and technology helps us manage it much more effectively. We maintain a proprietary geographic information site called Geothinq. It helps with real estate and property decisions, particularly what land is best suited for a specific type of use. We have customized our AutoCAD® (software) significantly to work with Civil 3D® (software) to make it more efficient to produce plans.

Project managers are the backbone of our company. They are our frontline with clients, contractors, and reviewing agencies. Through software developed by our in-house programmers, our managers are able to understand all aspects of a project. We developed a business development tracking software that allows our project managers to stay ahead of pending projects by ensuring technical resources are available when our clients need them.  The system facilitates continuous communication throughout Thomas & Hutton.

Q: IS TECHNOLOGY ALWAYS A GOOD THING?

Mitchell: One important thing to keep in mind is that technology can give you false confidence because of its perceived accuracy. But technology does not replace good judgment! Also, email has led people to expect quick turnarounds, but incredibly fast communication can’t ever replace one-on-one skills. Developing relationships will always be important.

Sam: With technology, it’s about how you use it most effectively. For example, lasers on a motor grader can set elevations and reduce human error, but only if the plans are correct... Technology requires lifelong learning and continuous improvement.

Q: LET’S LOOK AHEAD. WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE?

Mitchell: One likely emerging trend is that our industry will move more into integrated design/build projects in contrast to the traditional design/bid/build sequence. Projects will become more collaborative. This has great potential for better finished projects for clients because the old way of competitive bidding doesn’t always give clients good value. When projects are a team effort where designers and contractors and clients work together from goal setting onwards, we actually deliver projects quicker, with fewer misunderstandings and better value. We are fortunate to have clients who know that.

Sam: As for the future of engineering, we learned at the fall Urban Land Institute conference that real estate is beginning to rebound, especially home building, buying, and improving. Manufacturing is returning to the Southeast because of favorable labor conditions. Housing and manufacturing need infrastructure - that is roads, water and sewer service. Hopefully, we will see new projects that have been on hold during the recession.

At Thomas & Hutton in particular, some of my goals are to find more opportunities for employees - to maintain our bright spots and strengths and to add to them. We must continue to attract and keep the top talent for our clients and the future of the company. We work hard to take care of our employees and set this company apart as a great place to work.

We will always stay in front of technology and be known for that. Also, we will continue to build a more collaborative mindset with clients, contractors, and internally.

Q: WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FORESEE?

Mitchell: The two biggest challenges I see coming up are in talent and infrastructure. Our education system is not keeping up in science and technology, so fewer people are inclined to go into these fields. Finding good qualified people, i.e., educated engineers and IT folks, is more problematic than it ever has been. This is critically important to our national and local economy as technical skills are an essential component for our advanced lifestyle.

As for our country’s infrastructure, it’s like we’re not changing the oil in a car. But knowing our society, we’ll probably have to experience more pain before allocating the resources needed. When something becomes an inconvenience, then people will put money into it.

Sam: We know that Federal Insurance Rate Maps have been reissued. These changes cause concern and expense related to properties - developed and undeveloped. Besides that, the environmental regulations are only going to increase. You have to stay on top of those to stay current.

For society overall, infrastructure funding is a challenge. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the United States’ infrastructure a D+ in 2013.  That should be a concern to every citizen.

For our firm and our industry, the biggest challenge will be a strong competition for talent. So many people left the broader construction industry in the recession. They now have new jobs, careers, and locations. Also, colleges are not producing enough engineers of any kind, not just civil, at the same rate they used to.

Q: WHAT DO YOU WISH NON-ENGINEERS UNDERSTOOD BETTER ABOUT CIVIL ENGINEERING?

Mitchell: Most people take for granted what engineers bring to society. Public health is an example. All the doctors and medicine in the world are not as important as clean drinking water. Engineers make clean water possible by designing and building the systems that make our water clean and safe to drink.  Another example is the bridges you drive over as part of our transportation infrastructure.  Most folks don’t give it any thought, but a group of engineers designed that bridge that safely carries you to your destination.   The quality of life that we so much take for granted in the U.S. is largely due to the quality of infrastructure designed by engineers.

Sam: Civil engineering education gives you a broad background.   Civil engineers touch most aspects of our daily life.  Transportation systems, safe buildings, clean water, and flood control are all part of our practice.  Economical and sustainable solutions to many of society’s needs are designed by civil engineers.

Q: WHAT DO YOU WISH MORE PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT THOMAS & HUTTON?

Mitchell: Long ago, we made a decision to keep Thomas & Hutton privately owned whereas so much of our industry is now publically owned. We strongly believe that private ownership of engineering firms keeps critical decisions in the hands of practitioners. Because of our belief, we put a lot of effort into diversifying our skills and preparing for the future so we can serve our clients better. So much effort in many public corporations is devoted to squeezing out short-term revenue. We believe that putting clients’ interests first is essential to long-term sustainability. I think people will begin to see that smaller, private firms with sustainable management and ownership will provide better services as they make decisions without being worried about Wall Street.

Sam: Since last April, we have been working on our leadership transition. During the course of that, I had the opportunity to listen to our employees and clients.  It has been good for me to hear the values we talk about as a company repeated by employees and clients. They understand and appreciate what we stand for. We are trusted advisors and part of a team.  Our people take ownership in projects and clients recognize and appreciate that.

We will continue to invest in ensuring our employees possess technically innovative skills that directly benefit our clients. As we near the end of the transition period, I look forward to empowering a talented and dedicated team as they help our clients strive for success.