Press & News

Engineering, Planning and Architectural Firms Announce Merger

(DALLAS, TX) - Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation (BWR) announces a merger with R&B Associates, Inc. (RBA) effective January 1, 2007. RBA will assume the BWR name. RBA principal and cofounder Robert Franke, P.E. has been named a BWR principal and will serve as the BWR Dallas office manager with responsibility for overall operations, business development and client relations. Franke was formerly regional manager at Fluor-Daniel, Inc. BWR opened a Dallas office in 1990, and currently has a staff of 34 including 12 professional engineers, planners and architects.

“This merger creates an excellent opportunity for our staff and for our clients. The Dallas office has unlimited potential and we are excited to put key leadership in place to grow our presence in the municipal services market,” said Franke.

In addition to Franke, who also serves as the Mayor of Cedar Hill, Texas, RBA principal and cofounder Robert Helmberger, P.E., also named a BWR principal, will assume the role of team leader of the staff in Anna, Texas. Prior to forming RBA, Helmberger served as senior project manager with Fluor-Daniel. He will focus on municipal engineering projects, business development and client relations. Lawrence Ley, P.E. and Douglas Showers, P.E. have recently been hired as municipal services team leaders involving project initiatives and business development for cities and agencies in North Central Texas including municipal engineering, land use, planning, architecture, aviation, transportation engineering, structural engineering and surveying. BWR’s market focus is to provide all services clients require. Ley previously held positions as a partner with Bean, Longest & Neff, L.L.C., and as a senior civil engineer with Nakawatase, Wyns & Associates in Chicago, where he specialized in managing transportation and municipal civil engineering projects. Prior to joining BWR, Showers held positions as a partner with Birkhoff, Hendricks & Conway, L.L.P. where he specialized in municipal infrastructure engineering with local municipalities in North Texas, and as a senior construction engineer for Dallas – Fort Worth International Airport. With over 38 years of architectural experience, Norman Hatfield, AIA accepted a position as lead architect for BWR’s Dallas office. Hatfield was a founding principal of the Amteah Group, Inc. and Hatfield Crookless Abernathy Architects. He has extensive municipal experience in Texas having designed architectural projects for over 20 cities in the Metroplex. Mark Sweeney, AICP was hired as a senior planner for BWR. He formerly served with the Northeast Texas Council of Governments to offer comprehensive and community planning in the Texas market.

BWR President and CEO Larry G. White said, “This is an exciting expansion for the firm in our number one growth market. The BWR expertise that is now located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is outstanding and can greatly benefit our clients.”

For the past 17 years, BWR has engineered, managed and designed projects for several Texas clients including: Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT); the City of Dallas; North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA); the County and City of Rockwall, Texas; and numerous other municipalities and airports within the state of Texas.

About Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation
BWR is a multidiscipline firm offering comprehensive consulting services in engineering, planning and architecture. Over the past 50 years, BWR has expanded to include 10 offices and more than 250 qualified professionals nationwide. Substantial annual growth and a long list of repeat clients with private and public sector projects are testimony to BWR’s integrity and expertise.