HR Green buys Chicago engineering firm

The purchase of a Chicago engineering firm will allow an Eastern Iowa company to crack the lucrative Windy City market.

Howard R. Green Co. this week completed its acquisition of SEC Group Inc., a consulting engineering, planning and surveying firm. The 28-year-old company, with 120 employees, has offices in downtown Chicago, McHenry, Yorkville and New Lenox, Ill.

Mike Daniel, chairman and chief executive officer of Green Companies Inc., corporate parent of Howard R. Green, said the management of SEC Group will assume significant leadership roles in the combined organization, which will employ nearly 400.

“John Smith, the founder and owner of SEC Group, will have a seat on our board of directors and be an active player in trying to grow business,” Daniel said. “Ralph Russell (former Green Companies CEO) also will spend a significant chunk of his time trying to meld the cultures together and bring our capabilities to the Illinois customers.”

Daniel said the acquisition of SEC Group represents the next step in Green's long-term strategy to broaden exposure in metropolitan markets such as Chicago and surrounding communities.

“SEC Group has done a lot of work for the Illinois Department of Transportation as well as local governments in the Chicago area,” Daniel said. “We currently do business in Illinois with the Department of Transportation through our office in Moline.

“This combination will strengthen core services to our governmental clients and more than double our transportation capabilities.”

Daniel said there are no plans to close or consolidate any of SEC Group's offices. He said some SEC Group support functions will be centralized in Cedar Rapids, phasing out the positions of about five SEC Group employees.

SEC Group rode a wave of land development market in Chicago until about two years ago, according to Daniel. He said the professional services firm shifted its focus at that point to primarily government transportation projects.

Daniel said neither Green nor SEC Group has seen a direct financial benefit from the federal economic stimulus bill, but has worked with cities to move projects to “shovel ready” status for potential funding.

“We're hoping to see this economy turn around and construction activity pick up over the next couple of years,” he said. “We're also hoping that Chicago succeeds in its bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. Should the city be selected in October, we would expect to see a lot of construction activity in the Chicago market.”