Preble-Rish Joins Dewberry

Widely known and respected engineering firm now backed by more capacity and technical know-how.

Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, announced in an April 5 media release the acquisition of Preble-Rish. The 120-person full-service consulting engineering and surveying firm is well known throughout the Florida Panhandle and coastal Alabama for its strong relationships with clients and communities. Preble-Rish will continue to operate from its 15 locations in the region and maintain its current management.

“When considering the Dewberry relationship, we set three goals,” said Preble-Rish Chairman of the Board, Ralph Rish. “They were to provide an opportunity for professional growth for our employees, provide a greater capacity within the firm, and most importantly provide our clients with broader services to meet all their needs. With Preble-Rish joining Dewberry, we are accomplishing all three goals and more. We are very excited for our clients and team members.”

Preble-Rish President Cliff Wilson added, “This is the right opportunity to grow our people and capacity to serve our clients. Our relationships and involvement in the communities we serve has been the key to our success. Dewberry shares this same community-based culture, and together we have the most regional offices of any engineering firm across the Panhandle of Florida and Alabama. We are so proud to support the local economy this way.”

“We have gotten to know Preble-Rish through multiple partnering opportunities,” said Dewberry Chief Executive Officer Donald E. Stone, Jr. “We know each other’s values, see how we work together, and are confident that this a good cultural fit.”

Darren Conner, president of Dewberry’s southeast group added, “Preble-Rish has an excellent reputation. We’re looking forward to supporting their projects and people—basically what’s already working well; great client service from this great firm.”

As Dewberry | Preble-Rish, the firm will continue to deliver engineering, surveying, grant writing, contract administration, and construction inspection services to counties, cities, towns, schools, and utility companies as well as several private sector clients in Florida and Alabama. It will reach into Dewberry for additional capacity and the ability to take on larger and more complex projects involving coastal and environmental, water/wastewater, water resources, and transportation engineering, and bathometric surveying.

Dewberry currently has six offices in Florida, including Pensacola, as well as offices in Mobile, Alabama; Gulfport, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Houston, Texas. Dewberry has worked in the Gulf Coast region for 30 years.

Dewberry is also currently under contract with Escambia, Walton, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla Counties to help craft those counties MYIP (Multi Year Implementation Plan) for submittal to the U.S. Department of Treasury to fund local projects out of fines funds to be received from BP for their role in the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Escambia, Walton, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla Counties are among the eight disproportionately impacted panhandle counties that are slated to receive 75 percent of Florida's allocation of BP fine funds.