Wednesday, January 22
Lawrence Business Magazine LLC
Lawrence Business Magazine LLC
2014 First Quarter - The Business of Announcing

ENGINEERING FIRMS: ENGINEERING TODAY

By on 92 Comments
LEARNING ON THE HILL TO ENGINEERING TODAY
| 2014 Spring | story by EMILY MULLIGAN | photos by STEVEN HERTZOG |

Wetzel Engineering 1

Engineers thrive on finding solutions to problems – even if that problem was a slumping U.S. economy that was affecting their business. Three longtime Lawrence engineering firms found ways to continue their success during the past few turbulent years, with one of them even doing more projects than ever, and they have emerged with business models designed to sustain them for the long term.

All three firms are headed up by University of Kansas, School of Engineering graduates, and they have chosen to stay close to the University, in Lawrence, for reasons both similar and different.

Wetzel Engineering
The collapse of energy giant Enron led Kyle Wetzel back to Kansas after years in California working on the company’s wind energy projects. Armed with knowledge and experience in the field, Wetzel, who is originally from Topeka and has his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from KU, came back to assist one of his former professors with a contract from the Navy.

Wetzel Engineering 2Right away, he established his engineering consulting business and specialized in research and development related to wind turbines. He had no idea that in just a few years, his business would grow exponentially and become one-of-a-kind in the country.

“We are one of a half a dozen companies in the world that designs wind turbine blades – we are the only company in the United States that does,” Wetzel said.

Now, the firm has 14 engineers and does 80 percent of its work overseas in places like China and Germany.

“Our largest project right now is in Korea, where we are designing a blade for a three-megawatt turbine for a power generation company. That is very large,” he said.

Interestingly Wetzel Engineering’s business boom came at a time when most of the U.S. was struggling with a recession. Wetzel said that success was a result of two things converging at once: a client who needed a large scope of services for a project and, most significantly, winning two contracts in China. He knew he couldn’t go it alone, so he turned to KU’s School of Engineering, and all of his first hires were KU graduates. The company’s productivity shows no signs of slowing down.

“In the first eight or nine years I was in business, I did about 30 projects. In the past four years, we have done about 70 projects,” Wetzel said.

He said that in the past year or so, the firm has picked up several projects in the United States. Farmers and schools are becoming interested in developing medium-sized wind turbines for power generation.

“We are trying to pursue a lot of work with the owners of wind farms, also, solving engineering problems of maintaining older turbines – that’s called engineering forensics,” he said.

Even with all his work and travel, Wetzel stays directly connected to the KU School of Engineering. He is an adjunct professor in aerospace engineering, and he collaborates with the faculty regularly – on their research and his own.

“We have a good barter with KU: I teach up there, and they provide engineering consulting,” he said.

Landplan Engineering
As its name implies, Phil Struble’s firm, Landplan Engineering, stays a little closer to the ground than wind turbines. In fact, much of the company’s work is actually in the ground – designing commercial and residential developments and their water lines, sewer systems and stormwater systems.

Landplan Engineering was started in Lawrence in 1978. Struble worked at the firm part-time as a drafter while he pursued his engineering degree at KU. He had moved to Denver after graduation, where he worked for several years designing wastewater treatment plants and specialized in land use. Struble and his wife came back to Lawrence when Brian Kubota, Landplan Engineering’s founder, called Struble and asked if he would like to be a partner in the firm.

Phil Struble“I’ve been sitting in the same office for 20 years. But I have four junior partners coming up behind me – I didn’t want to be the last one turning out the lights,” Struble said. Struble built and grew the company doing residential and commercial developments, among a few other specialties, beginning with the real estate boom in the 1980s. Business was steady and growing – until 2008, when the U.S. economy began to falter.

“We figured out that the housing industry isn’t going to come back as the same level it was,” Struble said. “We went from developments being 70 to 80 percent of our business to 20 to 30 percent of our business. We had to come up with a new something to do.”

One of the new things that Landplan began to do was to design senior retirement communities – which they are working on in Des Moines, St. Louis and Kansas City. Struble said they looked at their combination of engineers and landscape architects that had planned developments for years and realized it was the ideal set-up
to create new and different facilities.

“It is tremendously rewarding work – you can really impact people’s lives,” Struble said.

The new retirement communities are designed to better reflect modern seniors’ lifestyle choices. For example, many are located in neighborhoods where residents can go for walks and see families out and about, maybe even visit a playground. Many have small health clubs with amenities similar to today’s private health clubs. And, a lot of them have their own bars, so friends and family members can come and relax with a favorite beverage during their visit.

“You can’t just build it like an apartment complex, because they are there all day long,” Struble said.

In addition to expanding its project repertoire, Landplan has expanded its reach. The firm opened an office in Houston with six people. Struble says that large developments are still happening in Texas, even after the recession, so the firm is still doing planning, including a huge 1,100-lot subdivision, which Struble says is being developed without anyone in Texas “even batting an eye.”

About half the work done in Texas is done out of the Lawrence office. Thanks to the wonders of technology, engineers can meet with their clients over Skype and walk them through schematics and plans in real time, so it doesn’t make a difference where they are.

Struble says he is pleased that the firm has found its niche after the rough patch in the economy. The main thing that has changed for him is that he used to do about 80 percent of his business in Douglas County – now that figure is about 25 percent.

He had previously been involved with volunteer projects in the community and at KU School of Engineering, but now he must travel and network with the local municipalities where his projects are underway.

“From a business perspective, I can’t do what I used to do. It’s one of the unfortunate casualties,” he said.

Grob Engineering Services
Dean Grob spent more than 15 years working as an engineer for other companies before he decided it was time to work for himself.

He started Grob Engineering Services in 2005, after working for R.D. Johnson Excavating for eight years and Kansas City engineering firm Black & Veatch prior to that.

A Lawrence native who has both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from KU in civil engineering, Grob knew that setting up shop in his hometown would have its advantages.

“Forty percent of the work I’ve gotten has been referrals from people I’ve known. I never have really marketed or looked for work outside the county,” he said.

Grob Engineering is Grob and one other engineer. They specialize in site plans for commercial sites, working with the city and regulations, and also do land development and public improvement plans such as streets, water lines and utility lines.

“One of the reasons I started the company was that other firms had gotten quite large and had larger fees. A lot of people I worked with had projects that didn’t need a larger staff,” he said.

Even with that cost and resource advantage, the economy affected Grob pretty strongly. He managed to piece together enough projects to survive.

Grob Photo“2009 was bad – there just wasn’t any work, and it wasn’t that other firms were getting it,” he said. Grob said that he can tell the economy is on the upswing, and he thinks it is improving at a slow enough pace to sustain the improvement.

“The engineering side is pretty strong. Cities have done street projects and infrastructure things when the cost is lower to them,” he said.

Technology has improved efficiencies for engineering, but Grob says that nothing compares to field experience and general knowledge for making engineers successful.

“In civil engineering, dirt is dirt, and it won’t change,” he said.

To that end, Grob stays connected with KU’s School of Engineering when he can. He uses some of his former professors for specialized consulting work.

“It is still a strong program. Anytime a school is growing, you know they’re doing something right,” he said.

Share.

Related Posts

92 Comments

  1. Virgilio on

    I wanted to thank you for this very good read!! I absolutely loved every bit of it.
    I’ve got you saved as a favorite to look at new things you post…

  2. Mallory on

    Hi this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering
    if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually
    code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I
    wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  5. Demetra on

    This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger.

    I’ve joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your wonderful
    post. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!

  6. 꽁머니 on

    Heya just wanted to give you a quick heads up and
    let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly.
    I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
    I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show
    the same outcome.

  8. Wally on

    I do not know if it’s just me or if everybody else experiencing problems
    with your blog. It looks like some of the text on your posts are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if
    this is happening to them as well? This might be a problem
    with my web browser because I’ve had this happen before.

    Appreciate it

  9. Nolan on

    Superb blog you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics discussed here?
    I’d really love to be a part of online community where I can get responses from other experienced people
    that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
    Thanks a lot!

  10. Juliane on

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your efforts and I will
    be waiting for your further post thank you once again.

  11. Jasper on

    Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like
    you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead
    of that, this is great blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.

  12. counseling sessions for couples on

    Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask.
    Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog post or vice-versa?
    My website goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we
    could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to
    shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you!

    Terrific blog by the way!

  14. Glenn on

    Amazing things here. I’m very satisfied to peer your post.
    Thanks so much and I’m having a look forward to
    touch you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?

  16. Terrell on

    Its like you read my mind! You appear to know
    a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
    I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a bit,
    but other than that, this is magnificent blog. A fantastic read.
    I will definitely be back.

  17. Gita on

    Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content seem to
    be running off the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility
    but I figured I’d post to let you know. The design look great
    though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Thanks

  19. Leo on

    Howdy! I know this is sort of off-topic but I needed to ask.
    Does managing a well-established website such as yours
    require a lot of work? I’m completely new to writing a blog but I do write in my diary
    on a daily basis. I’d like to start a blog so I can share
    my experience and thoughts online. Please let me know if you have any recommendations or
    tips for new aspiring blog owners. Appreciate it!

  20. Alfred on

    I am sure this article has touched all the internet visitors, its really really pleasant article on building
    up new weblog.

  21. Henry on

    I blog frequently and I really appreciate your content.
    Your article has truly peaked my interest. I will book mark your blog and
    keep checking for new information about once per week.
    I opted in for your Feed as well.

  22. Maribel on

    You made some good points there. I looked
    on the web to learn more about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this website.

  23. Kathrin on

    Simply desire to say your article is as surprising. The clearness for your put up is just spectacular and i can think you’re a professional on this subject.
    Fine with your permission let me to clutch your feed to
    keep updated with forthcoming post. Thank
    you 1,000,000 and please keep up the rewarding work.

  24. Charline on

    When someone writes an piece of writing he/she keeps the
    thought of a user in his/her brain that how a user can understand it.

    Thus that’s why this paragraph is outstdanding.
    Thanks!

  25. Francisco on

    I have to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing
    this site. I’m hoping to view the same high-grade content by you in the future as well.
    In truth, your creative writing abilities
    has inspired me to get my own, personal site now 😉

  26. Dallas on

    I blog often and I seriously appreciate your information. Your article has truly peaked my interest.
    I’m going to bookmark your blog and keep checking for new
    information about once per week. I opted in for your RSS
    feed as well.

  27. Bonnie on

    Howdy! I just want to give you a huge thumbs up for the excellent info you have right here on this post.
    I’ll be returning to your web site for more soon.

  28. Crystle on

    Right here is the right website for anybody who wishes to find out about
    this topic. You realize so much its almost tough to
    argue with you (not that I personally would want to…HaHa).
    You definitely put a fresh spin on a subject which has been written about for many years.
    Excellent stuff, just great!

  29. dewapoker on

    Hi there to every body, it’s my first go to see
    of this webpage; this web site consists of amazing and truly excellent material in favor of readers.

  30. Leanna on

    You’re so awesome! I do not suppose I have read something like that before.
    So wonderful to discover somebody with genuine thoughts on this topic.
    Really.. thanks for starting this up. This web site is something that’s needed on the
    web, someone with some originality!

  31. Blaine on

    Great blog right here! Also your web site a lot up very fast!
    What web host are you using? Can I am getting your affiliate hyperlink on your host?
    I desire my website loaded up as quickly as
    yours lol

  32. Child Therapy Center on

    Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this blog loading?

    I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
    Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

  33. Ciara on

    Having read this I thought it was rather enlightening. I appreciate you spending some
    time and energy to put this content together. I once again find myself spending a significant amount of time both reading and commenting.
    But so what, it was still worthwhile!

  34. Gavin on

    Magnificent items from you, man. I’ve remember your stuff
    previous to and you are simply extremely great. I
    actually like what you’ve got right here, really like what you’re stating and
    the best way by which you assert it. You are making it enjoyable and
    you still take care of to keep it sensible.
    I can’t wait to learn far more from you. That is really a terrific website.

  35. Jasper on

    you’re in reality a just right webmaster. The site loading velocity is incredible.
    It kind of feels that you’re doing any unique trick. Moreover,
    The contents are masterpiece. you’ve performed a magnificent
    job in this subject!

  36. Lane on

    Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off
    the screen in Opera. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility
    but I figured I’d post to let you know. The style and design look great
    though! Hope you get the issue resolved soon. Many thanks

  37. Rae on

    Hi to every , because I am really keen of reading this web
    site’s post to be updated on a regular basis. It carries fastidious
    information.

  41. Lashunda on

    Ahaa, its fastidious conversation regarding this paragraph at this place at this
    webpage, I have read all that, so now me also commenting at this place.

  43. Gregory on

    Great blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?

    A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out.

    Please let me know where you got your design. Thanks

  46. Titus on

    Hi to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting more from
    this site, and your views are nice in favor of new people.

Leave A Reply

Contact to Listing Owner

Captcha Code