Engineering firm sees big picture

Michael Grilli started BETA Group Inc. in 1982 with a staff of three in a small office in Pawtucket. At the time, the firm focused mainly on environmental engineering.
Now, 25 years later, the firm has grown into a regional leader and expanded its services to include structural engineering, transportation engineering, civil-site engineering, environmental sciences and information systems such as custom software design, geographic information systems and asset management.
“We are very versatile for a medium-sized company,” said Frank Romeo, president of BETA Group. “We provide a full range of services.”
“For a firm our size, that’s unusual,” added Donna Lantagne, vice president of administration.
This “one-stop shopping” aspect of the company, they said, has helped them succeed.
Through the years, the firm has produced master plans to address traffic, pedestrian safety, accessibility and aesthetics for Rhode Island College, key sections of Wellesley, Mass., Worcester and other sites; planned improvements for 6.5 miles of Route 295, including 17 ramps and ramp bridges; helped guide the closure of the Bristol landfill; analyzed a buildout along the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, designed a plant to process squid waste for the former Point Judith Fisherman’s Cooperative Association, and much more.
“We’re different in the fact that we go beyond pure planning and consulting and will pursue projects that other firms won’t,” said Jim Coppola, vice president of business development for BETA Group.
But it isn’t merely versatility that has made BETA Group a success. Romeo said it’s also the quality of the firm’s work, its staff and its dedication to customer service, all of which have allowed BETA Group to stand out in an industry where it is not uncommon to compete for contracts with 15 to 20 other companies.
“We feel that we’re on the cutting edge, so we can better serve our clients,” Romeo said. The firm also provides intensive professional development for its staff and encourages involvement in industry-related organizations. The employee stock ownership plan also has helped tremendously, he said.
“Every employee has shares in proportion with their compensation rate,” Romeo said. “It builds a culture of ownership. They get the feeling that their performance is directly related to their own personal success.”
Coppola added that it becomes easy to see the benefit of your work when you watch the stock prices increase.
“The value of the firm has been escalating over time so that relates to the price of the stocks,” Coppola said. “Our stock prices have been regularly going up for the past five years.”
This also contributes to limited turnover, which is increasingly important as engineers become more scarce.
“We have very low turnover, so we are affected a lot less,” Romeo said. “That’s good because when we do have to hire someone, it’s very competitive.”
Lantagne, who has been with the company since the beginning, said the culture of the firm attracts and keeps good employees. “The quality of our people is because it’s a good place to work,” she said.
Clients, too, are loyal, Romeo noted. “A lot of our clients have been with us for 10, 15 or 25 years,” he said. “Repeat business is essential to our continued success and growth, and we get that.”
The firm also keeps up with the changing needs of its clients, most of whom are in the public sector. For example, BETA Group has developed an expertise in asset management and will compile data to show a client what its assets are in order to develop capital improvement programs “in a logical manner.”
“Asset management is becoming more and more prevalent in our industry because there aren’t unlimited funds and they need to know what their needs are to develop a plan,” Romeo said.
Geographic growth, to better serve clients, is also in their plan. Romeo said that the Connecticut office, which has five employees, is growing, and the firm is looking to expand into northern New England.
“We’ve been structuring ourselves to grow,” said Lantagne.