Berger Group Holdings: Building the Future

Corporate Spotlight

Written by Eric Slack

Tuesday, 01 April 2008

Berger Group Holdings: Building the Future - American Executive - RedCoat Publishing

These internationally acclaimed planning specialists are driving to new heights.

Premier Business Partners:

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Berger Group Holdings gives new meaning to job security. As the parent entity of some of the leading companies in construction project planning, design, programming, management, administration, and budgeting, there is never a lack of projects. Some of those projects are in dangerous, war-torn places around the globe. According to Derish Wolff, chairman, Berger and its affiliates are successful because of the ability to get many jobs done on time and on budget even in the face of danger.

Derish Wolff, chairman

“The classic dilemma in such areas is balancing security and development objectives,” he said. “You can’t run development and infrastructure projects unless you supervise, design, and visit. But you take risks when you do. We have been successful because we balance those considerations more effectively.”

Puzzle pieces
The holding company began with the founding of The Louis Berger Group (LBG) in 1953. The company is a worldwide leader in the consulting field because of its legacy. Its projects add up to 100,000 highway miles, 2,000 railroad miles, 3,000 bridges, and airfields, seaports, dams, and water supply systems across the US and in 140 countries. This includes everything from design work on the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to design and construction of Afghanistan’s Kabul-Kandahar Highway.
But LBG is just one of many experienced companies in the Berger Group Holdings family. While LBG itself is split into three divisions, with group VPs managing international, global infrastructure services, and domestic groups, each affiliate has full autonomy, managed by the holding group from a portfolio perspective. It is essential to understand how critical these affiliates are to Berger Group Holdings’ future.

Louis Berger SAS is involved in design and oversight of transportation and infrastructure projects financed by the European Aid Program and related entities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Ammann & Whitney Consulting Engineers was founded in 1946, and its expertise lies in long-span suspension bridges and historic structures. Berger/ABAM Engineers offers management, planning, environmental, and engineering services, earning recognition for prize-winning work in prestressed concrete and port design.

Berger Devine Yaeger is an architectural specialist. The company worked on the 2000 Olympic Stadium in Australia and the Branson Landing development in Missouri. Klohn Crippen Berger is a Canadian company specializing in engineering, environmental, and project management services. Its major projects include mines and hydroelectric power plants, and it also offers advanced seismic and geotechnical services. Berger, Lehman Associates is a major New York/Connecticut engineering practice offering technical resources in civil and bridge engineering and high-speed rail planning and design.

CHELBI Engineering Consultants focuses on transportation planning and economics, project feasibility and post evaluation, and is the largest joint-venture engineering consulting firm in China. RBA Group is a multidisciplinary New Jersey-based consultancy founded in 1968, specializing in quality-of-life issues and focusing on architecture, engineering, and urban and regional planning. Lastly, Urban Engineering Systems was founded in 1970 as Louis Berger Thailand, providing staff and services to support projects in Thailand. It supervised Bangkok’s subway system and was the master planner of Thailand’s regional airport system.

While it is much to digest, the network of Berger companies under Nicholas Masucci’s guidance as president and CEO is one reason why it can compete globally. A worldwide footprint, diverse knowledge and experience, and the resources to tackle projects of virtually any size explain why the holding company’s revenue is approaching $1 billion. The diversified nature of each company gives the group the ability to do any job, anywhere on the globe, at any time.

Understanding trends
Aside from working in volatile places in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, challenges for Berger include staffing, government, and environmental regulations, and the value of the US dollar. In terms of staffing, rapid growth companies in the group are buoyed by people coming to them. Despite a growing need to fill positions, a positive reputation and attractive project portfolios keep prospective employees knocking on the door. For slower growth entities, relationships with engineering schools refresh a supply of interns and recent graduates in entry-level positions. Improved worldwide education also gives the company a global field of candidates.

“That is a big advantage because we can recruit from almost anywhere and move people from country to country,” Wolff said.

Berger companies have grown up with globalization and environmental awareness. This means they are used to operating under changing international conditions and have always tried to take environmental and sustainability needs into account. Berger Group Holding firms recently won awards for cleaning up the Taj Mahal, Cambodia’s fabled Tonle Sap, and the Cyprus Coastal Region. The Berger Group also managed the US-ASEAN environmental partnership for nearly two decades, constantly promoting environmental responsibility and cleaner technologies.
“We’ve worked to convince people that environmental concerns make for good business,” Masucci said. “No one wants to do it alone, but we’ve developed broad public-private partnerships for clean-up initiatives.”

Though the dollar continues to slide against foreign currency, Wolff says there have been some positive effects of this trend. While Americans may miss having the dominant currency, and it hurts construction costs domestically, the dollar’s weakness allows Berger companies to be more competitive against Asian and European counterparts.

“Having a high currency allows you to buy things globally, but it hurts exports and helps imports,” Wolff said. “When you reverse it people may feel poorer, but you can export more.”

Berger is continuing to transition up the value-added chain, becoming a true global design firm and evolving from its roots as a multinational. The group recently invested in a Global Design Center in India and state-of-the-art IT solutions to improve internal communication around the world, exchanging ideas and staff between offices. With experienced professionals like Wolff and Masucci leading the way, the company is on a path to full globalization.

“We will set up more virtual design and planning operations, using the Web for multi-office work by making better use of centers of excellence globally. We are taking advantage of improved communications tools to interface with our teams to become more proactive and anticipate problems,” said Masucci. “It is difficult, but we are building quality assurance and technical assistance teams to help with global projects without negatively impacting budgets.”

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