Stanley Consultants and Premier Engineering establish mentor/protg relationship

Muscatine, Iowa — Stanley Consultants and Premier Engineering Corporation have recently partnered to form a mentor/protégé relationship.  Administered by the Small Business Administration, the objective of the mentor/protégé program is to encourage large businesses to assist in the development of technical and business capabilities of small disadvantaged businesses, thus enabling them to more effectively compete for work.

The two firms are well matched for the program.  Established in 1913, Stanley Consultants is a global consulting engineering firm headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa.  The company is ranked 75th in Engineering News-Record magazine’s  annual ranking of the top 500 design firms and has a workforce of over 1,000 employees.  Premier Engineering Corporation, based in Chandler, Ariz., is a multi-disciplinary consulting engineering firm providing services in the areas of general civil, drainage, geotechnical, land development, transportation and water resources engineering; land survey and construction management.  Founded in 1995, Premier has grown to be a very well-respected consulting engineering firm both by its clients and peers.

“We’re excited to partner with Premier.  It’s a good fit,” said Michelle French, Federal Practice Leader for Stanley Consultants.  “In the late ‘90s we teamed with Premier on multiple state and local jobs in Arizona and established a good working relationship.  When Premier approached Stanley Consultants about breaking into the federal market it made sense to create a mentor/protégé relationship.”

Stanley Consultants has been working in the federal market since the 1950s, procuring and executing federal contracts for various federal agencies including the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Department of Energy, and Department of Agriculture.  Under the agreement, Stanley Consultants will mentor Premier in business development and how to successfully compete for federal contracts.  Through the program the two firms are able to establish a small business joint venture and become eligible to compete for federal projects available only to small businesses.

“It’s rewarding to see the success of a small businesses protégé firm and how they flourish throughout the process,” said French.  The firms have already started working collectively to pursue some federal contracts with the Air Force and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Even with an SBA 8(a) certification, we realized that in order to be successful in the federal market we needed a mentor to guide us through the very complicated federal requirements and processes. We had worked with Stanley Consultants on numerous transportation projects since late '90s and had developed an excellent relationship based on mutual trust and similar values. We were always treated with utmost respect and fairness by our friends at Stanley Consultants. This established relationship was key in Premier requesting Stanley Consultants to consider being our mentor to pursue federal projects.  Now that our MPA has been approved by the SBA, we are looking forward to the exciting new opportunities that await both our companies,” commented Chidambaram Gnanasambanthan, president of Premier.