Over its 40-year history, March Adams & Associates Inc. has put its imprint across the country with its diverse engineering analysis and design on thousands of commercial and industrial building projects in more than 40 states.
In its hometown where most of its work is done, the Chattanooga engineering company has done some type of engineering work on most of the major buildings erected or renovated downtown and across the city in recent decades.
“We try to maintain a balance between both commercial and industrial projects,” said Jeff Westbrook, a mechanical engineer who joined March Adams in 2002 and is now the company president. “It’s hard to name a building we have not been a part of in some way,”
In an interview at the company’s Dodds Avenue office, Westbrook and Michael Hutcherson, the company’s chief financial officer, said March Adams is typically involved in 300 to 400 projects a year. Their engineering work ranges from preparing a building assessment to doing all of the engineering work for a major $500,000-square-foot plant or warehouse building.
“Every month, we’re working on a different set of buildings and we’re having to look at different aspects of our design for what we do,” Westbrook said. “It’s constantly changing and that’s what makes it interesting and challenging.”
Economic cycles have shifted the company’s workload between new and existing structures and commercial and industrial work, but Hutcherson said the company has grown steadily over most of its four decades, even during the 2008-2009 downturn.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Michael Hutcherson of March Adams & Associates talks about the company during an interview on September 14, 2022.“I think having a multi-disciplinary team in one company at a single location gives us an advantage of being able to support one another and give each other assistance and ideas that make our work better and the work environment more rewarding,” Hutcherson said. “We also try to be flexible in our approach and how we work and we’re a small enough company that we all know each other and have a pretty open and friendly relationship.”
In the current market with supply chain challenges, March Adams engineers have had to adapt and in some instances totally redesign projects when supplies or workers were not available in time to meet construction needs and production schedules.
“We’re often having to adjust our work based upon the market and availability of supplies,” Westbrook said. “There are items we can’t get for 18 months that we used to get in six weeks so we have to be very flexible to achieve the customer’s desires.”
The company began in 1982 out of a change in market conditions for the founders. Charles Adams, Wayne March and Craig Brothers, former Dupont engineers, decided to open March Adams in 1982 rather than be relocated by Dupont when the nylon producer was revamping its U.S. operations before ultimately selling the business.
The business started off on North Hawthorne Street doing primarily mechanical engineering but soon diversified within its first couple of years when March Adams added as partners Tom Miller, an electrical engineer. Joe Hutcherson, who was a structural engineer, joined a few years after the start of the company and his son, Michael, is now the chief financial officer and head of the civil department.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Jeff Westbrook, President of March Adams & Associates, talks about the company during an interview on September 14, 2022.The company moved into its current location on Dodds Avenue next to McCallie School in the late 1990s when the engineering firm took over the 17,676 square feet building, which was originally built in 1927 and once housed the BellSouth switching center.
The firm has grown into Chattanooga’s biggest independent, multi-disciplined engineering firm providing a full range of civil, structural, mechanical, fire protection, electrical, and plumbing engineering services. The firm provides engineering designs for private, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors across the United States and overseas.
“We offer a broader range of engineering services and that’s a distinct advantage to have all of these disciplines working as a team in one company under one roof,” Westbrook said.
Working with different architects, developers and building owners, March Adams has expanded its work across the country and continues to look for new opportunities. But for now, at least, the company owners aren’t looking at adding any more offices or selling the business.
“You never say never, but we like being an independent engineering firm and Chattanooga is our home,” Westbrook said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.