A bridge to somewhere - Engineering firm benefits from advisory board program
Orlando Business Journal - by Justine Griffin
Friday, January 23, 2009  |  Modified: Thursday, January 29, 2009

Sandeep Singh has come a long way since he founded his engineering firm in 1988 with only five employees.

Back then, Avcon Inc. solely provided consulting services for aviation groups in Seminole and Orange counties. But in the mid 1990s, “there was a slowdown in the amount of business in the aviation industry and we didn’t want to limit ourselves,” Singh said. “We started to try surface transportation such as road and bridge services.”

From there, Avcon also dabbled in the actual construction of these projects, instead of just hiring people from outside the company.

In 2001, the company moved to East Michigan Street in Orlando. “Business was going well, but we were having a hard time implementing a strategic plan on how to grow,” Singh said. “We were definitely growing, but we did not have enough management or resources to guide these procedures.”

Singh said he and his employees were more focused on the projects they were working on than looking at the company’s future.

In 2006, Avcon was invited to join Orlando Business Journal’s Executive Advisory Board Exchange, a group made up of local professionals who help companies by providing business management advice. The board specializes in helping firms that are at least 3 to 5 years old and have revenue of $2 million-$5 million or more, making Avcon a perfect candidate.

“We were forced to look at the company on more than just a day-to-day basis,” said Singh, who met once a month for 18 months with an executive committee made up professionals like Stephen Hatcher, president of Zimmerman Kiser Sutcliffe law firm, and Scott Wall, vice president of commercial markets at RBC Centura Bank, who helped him manage the business. Each meeting was an open discussion with board members who had experience in a variety different fields.

Avcon already was a well-organized, successful firm that just needed a more progressive perspective, said Wall. “We would discuss what Avcon was looking to do and offer strategic, tactical advice. We were able to share some of our own success stories that were helpful for them to hear.”

One specific challenge: Avcon had a hard time recruiting new engineering candidates, said Hatcher. “After holding open discussions, we were able to pinpoint the problem as a disconnect between the marketing and recruiting base.”

As a result, Avcon created a new human resources position to recruit staff, focus on employee retention and other internal processes.

As the board members kept asking questions each month, Avcon also eventually realized its 4-year-old construction division “wasn’t as complementary to the business as they once thought it was,” said Hatcher.

So the firm decided to get back to basics and slowly stop doing construction work. “Construction was just not our cup of tea,” Singh said. “It was diverting our energies, and dropping it let us focus on the business again.”

Avcon Inc. has grown 10 percent each year since 2001. “It’s a sustainable growth rate that doesn’t allow our quality of work to suffer,” he said. Today, the firm has 50 employees and finished 2008 with $10 million in revenue. Avcon also now has regional offices in Naples, Niceville, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., and specializes in airport, structural, highway, bridge and land use planning and designing.

Singh said it was helpful to meet with people from the Executive Advisory Board Exchange who understood small businesses, even if they didn’t have engineering experience. “In the long run, they taught us to make our own educated decisions.”

Executive Advisory Board Exchange
Description: Provides free business management advice for growing companies
Top official: Connie Frye, executive director
Address: 255 S. Orange Ave., Ste. 700, Orlando 32801
Contact: : (407) 241-2906
Web site: eabx.com

Avcon Inc.

Top official: Sandeep Singh, founder and president
Description: Engineering firm that plans, designs and develops roads, bridges, airports, transit systems and utility systems
2008 revenue: $10 million
Employees: 50
Address: 5555 E. Michigan St., Ste. 200, Orlando 32822
Contact: (407) 599-1122
Web site: avconinc.com

specialreports@bizjournals.com | (407) 649-8470