Calvin, Giordano & Associates on Track for Record Revenues in 2009
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Great Recession of 2009 hasn't slowed the momentum of South Florida consultant, Calvin, Giordano & Associates (CGA), which is on track for its best year since the firm was founded in 1937 as M.E. Berry & Associates.
What began as a two-man surveying operation, CGA, www.calvin-giordano.com, has evolved into a multi-disciplinary professional consulting firm of 220 employees in three South Florida offices. CGA President Dennis Giordano said 2009 has been a year of significant growth with the addition of 25 new employees and record revenues of $25 million firmly in the company's sights. The company posted revenues of $23 million in 2008.
"Three years ago we realized that the rate of housing and related industry growth in our target service market was unsustainable, so we began engineering new directions for CGA, adding government privatization services, emergency management, indoor air quality, design/build, data technologies and development among others," said Giordano.
A significant area of growth for CGA has been government contract services, which provides local government agencies with an ala carte selection of outsourcing options to more efficiently and cost-effectively deliver services to its constituent base.
CGA, which has provided services to the public sector for decades as a core business, has recently gained considerable recognition for delivering a wide scope of services for three dozen municipalities and public agencies, including Weston, West Park, Pembroke Pines, West Palm Beach, Miramar, Wellington, Hollywood, Surfside, Sunny Isles and Loxahatchee Groves in South Florida as well as the new city of Dunwoody, Georgia.
In July, CGA signed a five-year contract with Broward County's second largest city, Pembroke Pines, to administer the City's Building Code Services department with a staff of 16 replacing an original department with 54 employees. In January, DeKalb County, Georgia's newest municipality, Dunwoody, located north of Atlanta, signed CGA to a three-year, multi-purpose management contract for finance and administrative services. In the first six months, CGA oversaw the installation of telephone and IT systems, opened the new City Hall, staffed the police department, including the purchase of 48 police vehicles, and implemented the court system.
As an off-shoot of its government contract services, CGA in 2004 launched INKforce(TM), a national developer of web-based software systems. Using a Panasonic Toughbook, wireless connection and web browser, INKforce(TM) allows inspectors to schedule, track and monitor the life cycle of all permitting and inspections directly from the field.
One INKforce(TM) user, Miami-Dade County, estimated the system increased productivity and efficiency by 30 percent, generating an estimated savings of $500,000. The National Association of Counties (NACO) honored Miami-Dade's exceptional improvement in its operations with a 2009 achievement award.
In public transportation, CGA, which already had considerable experience in highway design and transportation planning for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), created a Construction, Engineering and Inspection (CEI) services division.
CGA, according to Giordano, last month signed a five-year $12 million contract along with HNTB to serve as the Concessionaire's CEI consultant for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) $1.25 billion I-595 Express Lanes PPP (Public/Private Partnership) project, expected to begin this November.
"Our strategy is working, as we are experiencing the most rapid growth in the company's long history," said Giordano. "We're an innovative and creative partner that offers its clients a comprehensive approach to engineering, land planning, government regulatory compliance and data technologies and developmental issues. Because of our diversity, CGA can manage the entire process, offering a host of professional services as a one-source partner."
SOURCE Calvin, Giordano & Associates