QLH and Mead & Hunt merge

Middleton, Wis. — QLH, a water resources consulting firm based in Port Orange, Fla., joined architectural-engineering consulting firm Mead & Hunt on July 1.

“Our strategic vision to grow similar types of initiatives made this the perfect fit for both companies,” said Brad Blais, previously President of QLH and now Market Leader. “Mead & Hunt shares QLH’s values in our approach to client service and enhanced opportunities for employees. This merger will give our current and future QLH clients expanded service offerings while still receiving the quality and personalized service they’ve come to expect from us.”

QLH’s roots began in the municipal engineering sector during the 1960s and the firm continues to have a strong public agency client base throughout central Florida. The firm pioneered wastewater treatment and reclaimed water technology, and currently provides public facility and utility design, contract administration, construction inspection, and funding and grant services. The firm has 32 employees with civil and environmental engineering and construction inspection backgrounds. This merger will enable expansion of the Port Orange office and serve as a hub for future Florida office locations.

“We have been seeking a design firm to expand our water-wastewater services for several years, and also working to expand our footprint in the southeastern U.S.,” said Raj Sheth, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Mead & Hunt. “This region, particularly Florida, is experiencing a population boom. That, coupled with aging infrastructure across the U.S. and financing being directed to improve these systems, makes this merger a key opportunity. We expect to continue to add staff in the state, including individuals with aviation and transportation expertise.”

Mead & Hunt, an employee-owned company, ranked 141st largest in the nation on Engineering News Record’s 2016 Top Design Firm list. The firm has seen an exponential growth in the past 20 years, having been named to the Zweig Group Hot Firm list 14 times since 2002. The Hot Firm list recognizes the 100 fastest-growing architecture-engineering consulting firms in the United States and Canada. Mead & Hunt continues its strategic growth while maintaining the firm’s well-appreciated corporate culture, recognized by Mead & Hunt being named as one of the top engineering companies to work for in the nation several times by CE News.

Mead & Hunt provides professional services in architecture, engineering, environmental, planning, and historic preservation to diverse markets including dams and hydropower, food and beverage processing, military, municipal infrastructure, renewable energy, transportation (aviation, highways and bridges) and water resources throughout the United States. Founded in 1900, the firm employs about 600 employees from more than 30 offices located across the nation.

“Our clients will see a continuation of the service they have come to know and appreciate – same faces, same client contacts. But, now we’ll have a greater depth of resources to pull from, offering expanded services to all of our clients,” said Blais. He went on to say that QLH has had many of the same long-term, well-appreciated client relationships as Mead & Hunt. For example, QLH has provided all the wastewater services for the City of Cocoa Beach for the past 40 years.