With Projects All Across Texas, Shah Smith Builds an Impeccable Reputation

By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: When Ajay Shah and Jerry Smith left their steady jobs at a well-regarded consulting firm twenty years ago it was a with more than a little trepidation. “I had been with them for 18 years and Jerry about 10”, Shah said as he recalled those days of 12 and 14 hour days. “We couldn’t have thought about it if it hadn’t been for our wives who could back us up with their full time jobs and the dependent healthcare insurance their employers offered”.

 

He looked around at the 130 guests who had come to the anniversary party of the combined namesake company, Shah Smith Associates, and smiled at what that initial jump into independent consulting had brought around so many years later. Many of the staff from the firm were there at the Colombe d’Or in Montrose with their significant other, to help celebrate the milestone anniversary over cocktails on Friday, December 13. Among them were some of the clients and architects who SSA has done business over the years and hold it in high esteem.

Smith, who had retired on December 31, 2008, dropped by with his wife Sandra. One of the oldest and finest engineers in business and a mentor to many in the Bayou City, the 91 year-old Harry Badger, who finally hung up his engineering hat earlier this year, came assisted by his son Bruce.

“Mr. Badger was in fact the third person in our company”, explained Shah and later others joined as the young company picked up projects and made a reputation for itself. Shah also remembers the support of other well-known Indian luminaries in the E&C business in Houston, like the architect Randhir Sahni of Llewellyn Davies Sahni; Dr. Vijayvergiya formerly of Geotest Engineers and Dr. Narender Gosain, a retired Sr. VP with Walter P. Moore structural engineers.
Among the memorable projects were the Life Sciences Research Building at Texas A&M University and the M.D. Anderson Administration Building at the Texas Medical Center. What cemented SSA’s reputation for proficient mechanical and electrical engineering was the Entergy District Cooling Plant built in 2000 which brings 30,000 tons of chilled water to Minute Maid Park and other downtown buildings and provides 80,000 ton hours of cooling storage – a first in downtown Houston. Many of the firm’s projects were shown on a timeline poster displayed in the entrance foyer.
Currently the firm is involved in the construction of the $550 million Jeannie Sealy Replacement Hospital for UTMB in Galveston. “The 50 year-old structure was in sad shape and Hurricane Ike just accelerated its demise”, said Shah His firm has also designed the new terminal B at San Antonio International Airport, opened just two years ago.
Shah attributes all the successes to the firm’s 65 employees, most of who are based in Houston, on the westside. Twelve work in the Austin office and another telecommutes from Denver. “We have always hired from the top universities in Texas – Texas A&M, UT, UH, Texas Tech”, he explained, adding that the firm paid very competitive salaries. This explains the low turnover for the firm, with many staff members there for at least 10 years. The other side of the equation is the repeat business – upto 80 percent – that the firm regularly picks up, “based solely on our reputation for doing excellent design work”, added Shah.
After Jerry Smith’s retirement, Shah became the sole owner, but he quickly put into place a long-term succession and transition plan through which seven other key individuals in the firm’s evolution acquired ownership roles in 2010. These engineers – Doug Belisle, Dr. Jeff Bolander, Eric Deitz, Scott Sevigny, Doug Garrison, Ricky Nietsche and Wes Stidham – work with Shah to take the firm to the next generation of growth and evolution.