Over the past three and a half decades, the Chattanooga engineering firm March Adams and Associates Inc., has put its imprint on the city's skyline with consulting work on everything from top tourism attractions such as the Tennessee Aquarium and the Hunter Museum of Art to major office buildings, including the Liberty Tower and the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee campus.
From its original 900-square-foot office on Stuart Street, the firm founded by Charles N. Adams Jr. and Thomas Lee Miller has grown into one of Chattanooga's biggest full-service consulting engineering firms. The company now has 35 employees at its Dodds Avenue headquarters.
As a full-service engineering firm, Marsh Adams provides civil, structural, industrial and mechanical engineering services. It is the largest locally owned firm of its kind in Chattanooga. Marsh Adams is licensed to operate in 39 states and works on a variety of projects across the United States. But company president Joe Hutcherson said he doesn't foresee opening other offices outside of Chattanooga, at least for now.
"We are best served by having our office in Chattanooga, and with technology as it is today there is no real reason to be located anywhere else," Hutcherson says.
Hutcherson joined the firm in 1984, just a year after it was incorporated. He and Tom Miller have owned the firm for the past decade, but March Adams recently added three new principals to the company as owners - Jeff Westbrook, Scott McKenzie and Michael Hutcherson.
McKenzie has been with March Adams for 25 years, most recently as vice president of special projects. He has more than 33 years of experience in complex industrial and heavy commercial mechanical design. Westbrook has been with the company for 14 years, recently serving as mechanical department head. He has worked in commercial and industrial building and engineering for 25 years and earned an MBA from Georgia State University. Michael Hutcherson has been with the firm for 13 years, most recently as civil department head.
In addition to three new principals, March Adams recently promoted Brian Horne to director of engineering. He has been with the firm for seven years, most recently as part of the structural department.
"We want to continue to provide Chattanooga the kind of services that we have in the past and to do that those of us who are approaching retirement age see the need to pass the gauntlet on to the younger generation and that is what we have done," Hutcherson says.