The iconic Savannah engineering, consulting, design and development firm of Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung is changing its name to simplify and to reflect where it is and where it’s going.
Last week, the company made the switch to Hussey Gay Bell.
“We began nearly two years ago looking at our different companies and all the different variations on our name,” said CEO Holmes Bell, who, in 2013, bought the firm his father Gus joined in 1966.
“Even we were surprised when marketing director Stephanie Dammen counted 172 variations on our name since the company was founded in 1958,” he said.
While it’s not likely all the different designations confused longtime Savannah companies with which the firm had a history, Bell worried that new clients, as well as those in other markets, would not understand that the myriad companies and names were all under the same governance.
“We are HGBD Inc. of Georgia, HGBD Inc. of South Carolina, HGBD Environmental, HGBD International, HGBD Surveyors LLC and HGBD Arabia LLC,” he said, pausing to take a breath. “We have more than 150 professional engineers, architects and surveyors in offices from Savannah and Atlanta, Charleston and Columbia, S.C., and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“We thought it was important that we remove any confusion regarding our service lines,” he said. “We’re engineers, we’re architects, we’re surveyors, we’re program managers, we’re construction inspectors and more. But we don’t need different designations for everything we do.
“We needed to simplify our brand, both for our customers and for continuity as we go forward.”
The new name means redesigned logos, signs and stationery, as well as a new domain name – husseygaybell.com, which will replace hgbd.com.
“No commas, no ampersands, no DeYoung,” he said. “We are going back to our roots.”
Bell said the company dropped the Bell Company, Engineers, Architects, Surveyors, etc. in favor of an old familiar name. The company has been Hussey, Gay & Bell twice before.
“We’re hoping this will be really effective in our extended markets — in South Carolina, North Carolina and all throughout the Southeast.”
The new logo is clean and simple, with no designated services or descriptions —only an underline marking when it was established.
From a rebranding standpoint, Bell said he hopes the shortened name will have more name recognition and impact.
“We want to be perceived as one, unified company,” he said.
Bell was quick to say that dropping the DeYoung was no reflection on the work of the late Richard “Buddy” DeYoung, who joined the company in 1973 and was named a principal in the firm 10 years later.
DeYoung served as chief structural engineer on the Rousakis Riverfront Plaza on River Street, which earned numerous awards and accolades, and was also the engineer-in-charge for the 1996 Olympic sailing venue in Savannah.
The decision to shorten the name was the result of a client survey in which the company learned it was most recognized — and most often referred to — as Hussey, Gay and Bell.
Positive feedback
Gus Bell, who remains active as chairman emeritus, gave the decision his seal of approval.
“I like it,” he said. “I’m proud of where Holmes is taking the company.”
Feedback on the change has been positive, both from staff and clientele, the younger Bell said, and will help accelerate the company’s operational and economic expansion.
“That’s a big priority for me,” he said, adding that the company is already growing in a number of service lines.
“We’ve always been a government-geared firm, and one area where we are seeing more growth is with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” he said. “We’ve just been awarded an $8 million contract for design fees at Fort Bragg.”
Another growth area, he said, is in program management, where Hussey Gay Bell, along with a team from three other engineering firms, has been awarded the largest project management contract ever in Richland County, just outside of Columbia, S.C.
“That is a new service line for us — the managing of other engineering firms on a design project,” he said.
“We’re also looking at universities and technical schools in several different states with an eye to solving build-out problems. We’re currently working on an infill design project in the middle of Mercer University’s historic campus. It’s an approximately $40 million science building,” he said. “We’re just getting started, but I think it’s going to be very unique.”
The company also was just awarded the $15.1 million contract for Savannah State University’s new science and technology building.
While the company still has a presence in Riyadh, working on wastewater treatment plants and other infrastructure projects, Bell’s laser focus is in the Southeast.
“We’re actively pursuing several expansion opportunities and hope to make other announcements later this year regarding our growth,” he said.
“But, as always, Hussey Gay Bell will remain, first and foremost, as much a family as a firm.”
ABOUT HUSSEY GAY BELL
An Engineering News Record Top 500 Engineering Firm for more than 20 years, Hussey Gay Bell has provided professional engineering and architecture services in 19 countries and 36 states since its founding in 1958. The company offers full service expertise in the fields of transportation, drainage, water and wastewater systems, solid waste, site development, master planning, industrial plants and marine facilities, as well as support services in the fields of geotechnical and environmental engineering and surveying.
For more information, visit husseygaybell.com.