In a long-planned evolution of the firm, Meridian Associates, Inc. is pleased to announce that John M. Ings, PE has been promoted to President and CEO of the Beverly-based, employee-owned firm. John joined Meridian in 2011. He most recently has served as Meridian’s Vice President of Engineering.
Read the full press release here.
MassEcon celebrated the 19th Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards on April 6, 2023, at Gillette Stadium, with Citizens as presenting sponsor. Over 330 people attended the ceremony to honor 13 companies for their outstanding contributions to the Massachusetts economy. Bristol Myers Squibb received the inaugural 2023 Massachusetts Summit Achievement Award for its long-standing commitment to Massachusetts. Yvonne Hao, Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development, was a featured speaker. Lisa Hughes, news anchor for WBZ-TV News, and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll also provided remarks.
To view the event video, program book, and photos, go to the event page here.
Come celebrate Kids in Tech’s students as they showcase the projects that they have been working on in their afterschool tech club program.
Questions? Contact Olu Ibrahim at [email protected]
Lowell High School senior Adedayo Sanusi has her sights set on becoming a web developer and is already well on her way. This year, she re-sparked interest in an after-school Girls Who Code club at LHS with support from local nonprofit Project LEARN.
On Nov. 17, Adedayo was among six LHS student leaders passionate about IT and computer science who were invited to network with local industry professionals, and serve as student panelists.
“Flip the Script: An IT Roundtable Discussion,” held at Project LEARN’s Youth Innovation Space, was a collaboration between Project LEARN, Middlesex 3 Coalition, UMass Lowell, Middlesex Community College and MassHire. As an intern for Project LEARN, Adedayo gained firsthand experience in the behind-the-scenes planning of the event.
“Students like Adedayo are so driven to get involved and give back to the community,” said Mira Bookman, Project LEARN’s program director. “For my team and I, ‘Flip the Script’ means uplifting the voices of student leaders, and creating a forum for open dialogue between students, industry professionals, and workforce resources.
The roundtable was moderated by Lowell High School 2022 Distinguished Alum and Project LEARN board member Siddhi Shah Chhoeng, the head of strategy development for MilliporeSigma.
Kenneth Chap, a LHS senior and co-founder of The Programming Initiative (TPI), asked how representation of Lowell students can be increased in hiring.
Michael Bogdan, president of Avail Project Management, said he hires employees based on experience.
“Internships are key to gaining experience early on,” Bogdan advised. “Companies should do more to strengthen the talent pipeline in a way that serves the needs of their company.”
Sanusi asked the group what challenges they face with diverse hiring.
Sam Francois, a senior advanced research engineer for CommScope in Lowell, said he studied at Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he was among the 2% of the student body who was Black. He said he is also “the only person at work who looks like me.”
“The pools that are being recruited from don’t always reflect the community they’re in,” he said.
Francois added that although an employer should do more, to work through existing affinity groups or diverse professional societies in an effort to make people in those groups more aware of career opportunities.
The Director of Internal Communications at NetScout in Westford, Karen McCloskey, said it can be difficult to attract young diverse candidates to work in the suburbs when they would rather be in Boston or Cambridge. However, NetScout is actively working to get young people interested in their company by hosting hack-a-thons in different locations as a “fun way for us to get to know the students and for them to get to know us.”
When TPI co-founder and LHS junior Ibraheem Amin asked what steps high school students should take to break into the IT field, Chhoeng was quick to respond.
“Having IT knowledge is great,” said Chhoeng, “but it is more about having a desire to continue learning, having creative problem-solving skills, and good time management skills.”
Looking to the future, Victoria Prak, a LHS senior who is a member of both TPI and Girls Who Code, asked about the challenges facing the IT sector in the next five years and how we can work together to address these issues.
Tom O’Donnell, director of UMass Lowell’s iHub, said security, privacy and closing the equity gap on issues like broadband access will continue to be big challenges in IT. Today, more and more discoveries in life sciences are being made through the use of IT tools rather than time working in the research lab, which is why it’s critical to build community connections that strengthen IT education.
Lowell High senior Elyjah Delius, vice president of the school’s chapter of the Business Professionals of America, asked the attendees about pitfalls they faced in their journeys, professionally or personally, from which they learned.
“All of these experiences you have are opportunities to practice the skills that will take you far,” said Stephen Oliver, a professor at Salem State University and Project LEARN board member. “Say one thing every day in class and develop the habit of showing up.”
One of Lowell’s strengths is that it is a tight-knit community. “All of the resources are there,” said LZ Nunn, Project LEARN’s executive director. “Our job is to connect students with them.”
The Greater Lowell Workforce Board has been awarded a STEM- Focused Internship grant in the amount of $150,000.
“The purpose of these grants is to provide stipend support to increase high school students’ (9-12th grade) access to highly engaging STEM internships, particularly in schools enrolled in schools with high concentrations of low-income and historically disadvantaged student populations, to explore and prepare for a STEM Career in the Commonwealth.
Through this grant, the Commonwealth hopes to expose students to exciting career opportunities in STEM while also
building the pipeline of talent in potential employees in the Commonwealth.”
The Greater Lowell Workforce Board (MassHire) will administer the funds to businesses that hire an intern to work on STEM projects in 2023 (approximately 100 hours/student).
For more information on eligibility and how to apply for the Internship funds, please contact, Katy Gentile at the Greater Lowell Workforce Board, [email protected].
– SAK Environmental is “mission-focused” to help solve today’s complex environmental challenges facing clients, and that requires collaboration – within and outside our organization. How do we collaborate? By broadly training our staff to better understand and communicate with other experts we may work with such as design engineers, construction managers, facilities managers, government, and manufacturing. The result is new ideas and cost effective solutions.
Solving today’s environmental challenges demands new ideas, because environmental considerations are woven into every aspect of economic activity. Where do new ideas come from? They come from fully understanding a client’s risk tolerance, testing regulatory assumptions, and applying technologies that make sense. SAK Environmental’s new ideas have helped our clients minimize disposal costs, reduce their carbon footprint, and secure operating permits that enable business growth.
Anderson Strategic Advisors LLC
– Anderson Strategic Advisors, LLC is a Boston area economic development and government relations firm that specializes in forging efficient and productive relationships between business and government. Our mission is to provide high quality, value-add services that enable businesses to work with governments in the most effective and efficient way.
Anderson offers expertise in business incentive programs and infrastructure financing tools, economic development strategy, land use planning and permitting, and government relations.
Anderson helps its clients to identify solutions and opportunities, generate road maps to achieving goals, and implement strategies that deliver tangible results. With our assistance, Anderson clients are able to access public financing and incentives programs, save countless hours navigating government hurdles and red tape, and manage government relationships most effectively.
FDE Hydro is advancing the North American water infrastructure industry by developing innovative technologies for the next-generation hydro run of the river dams, modular prestress concrete power house facilities, pump storage civil structures, reservoir and water control systems and retrofit of existing high hazard dams, modular aquatic animal passage systems.
FDE Hydro Introduces Modular Precast Concrete Scalable Technology for Construction & Retrofit of Hydro and Water Control Systems. FDE Hydro owns exclusive IP rights to all of North America regarding civil water infrastructure solutions.
The “French Dam” is a patented next generation Precast Modular Construction and Retrofit technology for building new and refurbishment of existing small and medium head hydro electric and water control dams.
With assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, FDE Hydro fabricated, demonstrated and validated the proof of concept of its patented (“French Dam”) modular precast water control structure in 2016.
The company estimates this technology can reduce civil construction and maintenance costs by up to 60%, shorten duration of construction by 50% and mitigate most risks associated with “cast-in-place” traditional construction methods which gives the developer a much faster ROI.
FDE Hydro has agreements with the top precast manufacturing innovators that gives FDE Hydro a supply chain of precast and pre-stress manufacturing covering all of North America.
Bowman expects the McMahon acquisition to initially contribute approximately $28 million of annualized transportation infrastructure-related net service billing and be immediately accretive. Structured as a stock purchase with a joint election under Section 338(h)(10) of the Internal Revenue Code, the $18.5 million acquisition price was financed with a combination of cash, seller notes and approximately 477,000 shares of restricted common stock of Bowman subject to a six-month lock-up agreement. Determination of the final acquisition cost is subject to customary post-closing purchase price accounting.
“McMahon is well respected throughout the transportation field and will be an outstanding addition to our firm,” said Gary Bowman, CEO of Bowman. “Their leadership and team of consummate professionals bring tremendous value to our staff, our clients and our shareholders. As we have gotten to know McMahon’s business, we have become highly confident that this complementary combination will have a long-term positive impact that will be much greater than the sum of the parts.”
“The array of transportation services we can collectively provide our clients will continue to grow as client needs dictate, while we continue to deliver on our commitment to personalized attention on every project,” added Bowman. “The addition of McMahon will provide a broad platform from which to continue growing our share of the transportation market throughout the nation. We are just getting started on our 2022 acquisition program and I am pleased that we continue to deliver on our commitment to strategic growth initiative in such a meaningful way. Everyone at Bowman joins me in welcoming the employees, clients and business partners of McMahon.”
“For over 45 years, McMahon has specialized in delivering forward-looking transportation, planning, engineering and technology solutions to our clients”, said Joseph DeSantis, President and CEO of McMahon. “Our success is the result of the commitment and dedication of our employees, many of whom have been with the firm for most of their professional careers. Bowman is a well-established and culturally compatible firm with services that are complementary to ours. By joining up with Bowman we gain access to new resources and technologies that allow for an even greater investment in the delivery of innovative transportation solutions to our clients while continuing to offer the same personal attention and trusted relationships our clients have come to expect from us.”
“This partnership between McMahon and Bowman highlights the alignment of our cultures, our focus on growth and opportunity for our people, and our combined entrepreneurial spirit,” added DeSantis. “McMahon has always been thankful for our clients and committed to contributing to our communities. We look forward to continuing in this fashion with Bowman’s first-rate organization.”
“This is our second acquisition in 2022 and is a significant step toward our stated goal of acquiring $75 million of annualized net revenue this year,” said Bruce Labovitz, Bowman’s CFO. “The addition of McMahon nearly triples our transportation infrastructure business which will, over time, meaningfully impact our composition of revenue by market. While the acquisition is within our target multiple range, we believe McMahon’s operating margins will benefit from being part of Bowman and ultimately improve the effective multiple. As is our practice, we will provide more detailed information on our M&A activities and communicate updates to guidance in connection with scheduled quarterly communications.”
About McMahon Associates, Inc.
Since 1976, McMahon has specialized in delivering a broad array of innovative transportation planning and engineering services to private and public sector clients. The firm has built trusted and lasting relationships by surpassing the expectations of its clients. With over 200 dedicated professionals working out of 15 offices throughout the East Coast, McMahon has the talent, experience, and expertise to take on any transportation challenge. Additional information on McMahon, its team, and its projects can be found at mcmahonassociates.com.
“At Northern Bank, we believe that helping entrepreneurs build a successful business helps build a stronger, more vital community for us all. That’s a philosophy we’ve put into practice for over 60 years.
Our business was founded and built by entrepreneurs, who when they discovered a traditional bank wouldn’t lend them money, decided to start a bank of their own — a bank that would support the entrepreneurial spirit of the community. A bank designed to help individuals realize their personal dreams and entrepreneurs help their businesses grow.”
“Avison Young creates economic, social and environmental value as a global real estate advisor, powered by people.
At Avison Young, we believe in creating positive impact wherever we go.
There is a vital role for commercial real estate to create healthy, productive workplaces for employees, cities that are centres of prosperity for its citizens, and built spaces and places that create a net benefit to the economy, the environment and the community.
Our nimble, agile team has global insight, local market expertise and access to some of the smartest technology in the commercial real estate industry – all at the ready to work on creating your competitive advantage. As a private company, you will collaborate with an empowered partner who is invested in your success as much as you are.”
“Rooted in local expertise and relationships, and backed by institutional capital and partnerships, Camber brings an innovative mindset to traditional assets to improve building functionality and connection to, and between, the companies and employees that occupy them.
We own and operate our properties, re-leasing and repositioning as appropriate, with the intention of establishing strong relationships with our customers and attracting new innovative companies to our portfolio.
Camber is actively seeking properties in the Greater Boston area. In addition to existing buildings, we are pursuing development and re-development opportunities for potential life science and industrial uses. We believe partnerships create better outcomes and we are flexible related to transaction structuring with sellers of properties and potential joint venture partners.”
In October, they will be talking about caring for your breast health. With featured speaker are Dr. Lerna Ozcan, Riverside Surgical Associates and Dr. Jill Steinkeler, Commonwealth Radiology Associates.
These events will be Free!
Location: UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center, 50 Warren St, Lowell, MA
