Responding to a growing industry preference for full-service engineering vendors, Engineered Tower Solutions (ETS) has bolstered its geotechnical capabilities with a new division, industry veterans, and expanding facilities.
ETS has always put the customer first. Less than a year after its founding as a tower inspection company in 2012 and with a fast-growing reputation for quality and service excellence, ETS responded to customer demand by adding construction to its engineering services. Shortly after, the structural engineering division was created, completing the founders’ original vision for the company, albeit a few years earlier than first planned. Geotechnical engineering is now the latest specialty to be added to the company’s capabilities.
”Geotech certainly isn’t new to us as we’ve been performing services through subcontractors almost from day one,” says Matt Fields, ETS Executive Vice President and cofounder. “Up to now, it made no sense for us to build our organization when there were plenty of dedicated geotech vendors offering engineering services across the country. But now we see our customer expectations increasing. Providing geotechnical services in-house meets those customers’ expectations and aligns with our growth model.”
ETS’ new geotechnical division is based at the company’s headquarters in Raleigh, NC. Services are offered nationally, with a network of subcontractors providing drilling services. The company’s CMT discipline will also be managed within the new division, and a fully accredited CMT laboratory is expected to come online before the end of 2022.
Behind every successful company, division, or team, are the people that convert ideas and plans into effective organizations and capabilities. ETS has been fortunate to hire two very experienced professionals that bring a wealth of skill and experience to their roles.
Steven Allen joins ETS as the geotechnical division manager, bringing over 16 years of experience in geotechnical engineering, working with some of the industry’s leading names. Jorge Varela, PE, also joins the team as a senior geotechnical engineer.
The ability to provide accredited geotechnical engineering services is required for many state and local government agencies with wireless infrastructure management contracts, and ETS aims to expand its presence in these markets.
“As we get invited to bid on more multi-year government contracts, it became even more important to bring geotech in-house and expand our service capabilities,” adds Fields. “By offering an extensive and closely coupled set of core engineering capabilities, now to include geotech, we are well-positioned to increase our presence in government markets and with the larger tower companies in general.”
