GeoEngineers’ Baton Rouge office celebrated 50 years of serving the Gulf Coast on October 22. The event drew about 150 people to the Capitol Park Museum – Louisiana State Museum for hors d’oeuvres, drinks and live music. Staff said it was an ideal chance to bring clients and employees together to celebrate the past and look forward to the future.
“It’s impressive,” said Principal Geotechnical Engineer David Eley. “We have client relationships that go back years, and now those relationships are being transferred to the next generation of GeoEngineers.”
Before being acquired by GeoEngineers in 2007, Louis J. Capozzoli & Associates Inc. had a long and reliable service record throughout the Gulf Coast. Many of the firm’s principals brought their expertise and years of experience to GeoEngineers after the transition, continuing their legacy of service.
“I am very proud and quite humbled to be a part of an organization that literally shaped the landscape of a city and a region,” said Blake Cotton, principal geotechnical engineer. “Dr. Capozzoli built his firm on a foundation of excellent client service, which resulted in his involvement in most of the significant projects that define this region. He developed a very deep client base and an incredibly strong reputation that has been maintained and further cultivated by those who followed him.”
Senior Principal Geotechnical Engineer David Sauls attributes GeoEngineers’ ongoing success in Louisiana to the company’s expertise with the unique soil conditions in the state, old-fashioned hard work, and effective client relations. Through Sauls’ own 38-year history with the firm, he says communicating to clients which engineering risks are real and which are imagined has always been a challenge.
“Sometimes it’s explaining how we can efficiently design for Louisiana soil and foundation requirements while dispelling the frightening legend of how difficult construction on this soil can be,” Sauls explained. “Alternatively, we also have to educate the client when a specific challenge requires more work, time and cost to avoid certain risks.”
Ultimately, the most important benefit of the firm’s long history in the region is a wealth of practical experience, according to Cotton.
“The ability to draw on that experience through our project records and direct knowledge of engineering leaders like David Sauls, Jim Aronstein, and Charlie Eustis is quite remarkable and places us in a league of our own,” Cotton said.
Employees in the GeoEngineers Baton Rouge office feel the responsibility to build upon the firm’s history as they look forward to new opportunities. As client relationships are handed from one generation to the next, Sauls is reminded of the critical role each employee plays in continuing the standard of work set by Dr. Capozzoli and others.
“I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude to our Baton Rouge staff for their sharing their talents with us and their belief in our work,” Sauls said.
