In May of 2013, I was fortunate to be part of the Partner team who met with Birdsall Services Group (BSG) as part of a corporate acquisition process.  It was not your typical visit by one company looking to acquire another, where executives meet behind closed doors and negotiate a deal.  We came in with a large team that included representatives from all of our technical disciplines as well as our East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, South, and Southeast offices.

We came in with a crew so we could to talk to as many BSG staff as possible, one on one.  It was to be less about us and more about them.  We wanted to hear their stories and understand how we could help get them back running strong after a year of living under a corporate black cloud.  We wanted to properly introduce ourselves with a variety of voices, but more importantly, we wanted to hear their ideas on righting the ship, and talk about a corporate marriage that could work well for all.

During that May visit, I talked one on one with over 25 BSG staff and listened to how they endured the last year of working under very trying circumstances.  Fierce loyalty to their team and colleagues was evident.  Despite the uncertainty of potentially going through an acquisition, and for the majority, the certainty of other job offers, it was clear they believed in their work and wanted to stick together. There was a strong commitment to seeing it through to better days.

With the acquisition now complete, there is great excitement about the integrated offerings of the combined company.  Partner now goes far beyond the transaction and into site development, design, and construction.  The like passions and teamwork present in both brings a powerful formula for growth, a formula that will catapult Partner in the engineering and design arena.