Somerville, MA – Design Consultants, Inc., (DCI), a civil engineering, transportation planning and land surveying firm based in Somerville, Massachusetts, recently finalized its acquisition of Polaris Consultants LLC of Quincy at its recent shareholder meeting.
The merger with Polaris strengthens DCI in multiple areas, adding new environmental and geotechnical engineering services and an enhanced presence on the South Shore and in MetroWest, says DCI President David Giangrande, PE. The former Polaris staff will continue to work out of its existing office at 1495 Hancock Street in Quincy. DCI now has an office on both the North Shore (Newburyport) and South Shore, in addition to its headquarters office in the vibrant Assembly Square area of Somerville.
“I’ve known and worked with Paul Costello, Jason Federico and Mike Clark, the principals at Polaris, for many years,” says Giangrande. “We have similar cultures and a client-first approach to doing business that made this merger of our firms a natural. They bring expertise in water/wastewater services, geotechnical engineering, and GIS/mapping that we previously did not have. Combined with our strengths in transportation planning and engineering, land development and survey, as well as our joint capabilities in stormwater management and other areas, we can provide our public-sector and private-sector clients even more comprehensive services under one roof.”
Polaris’ geographic strengths south and west of Boston complements DCI’s substantial portfolio in Eastern Massachusetts, particularly north of the city and in Greater Boston. “Even with our growth, we’re still nimble and lean, and we can provide our clients with a responsiveness and personal service that most larger firms can’t,” Giangrande adds.
DCI was founded in 1980 by Arthur Giangrande and has grown steadily since David assumed the President’s role in 1998. In that time, DCI has led many high-profile projects throughout the state, including the redesign of Huntington Avenue in Boston, the full-depth reconstruction of Somerville Avenue in Somerville, the design and development of Boston’s South Bay Harbor Trail, the reconstruction of Main Street in Andover and numerous other public- and private-sector transportation and land development projects.
With the firms’ combined resources, DCI’s staff now includes professional civil, geotechnical and transportation engineers, professional land surveyors, construction inspectors, draftsmen, wetlands specialists and other technical and administrative professionals.
Polaris’ signature projects include the Bruce Cahoon Water Treatment Plant in Harwich, water and wastewater treatment services for the Town of Medfield, the Hingham Town Beach Stabilization and the 384-unit Dot Block Private Development in Dorchester.
Founded in 2008, Polaris has been integrating with DCI since the preliminary merger documents were signed in late 2015. Paul Costello, PE, and Jason Federico have joined the DCI Board of Directors as partners and stockholders, while Michael Clark, PE, is also now a shareholder in DCI.
