Engineering firm picks new leader, maps out strategic plan

WATERTOWN — Engineering firm Bernier Carr & Associates kicked off spring with a changing of the guard as Kris D. Dimmick steps up as vice president of operations, leading its day-to-day operations. And CEO Bernard H. Brown and Board Chairperson Pamela Beyor both announced their retirement effective at the end of this year.

Those changes tie in with the work the company has done in over the past year to develop out its strategic plan, President Rick W. Tague says. “We mapped out this strategic plan. We needed someone who could focus on that,” he says.

Dimmick, who has been with Bernier Carr since 1991, and has served as a member of the firm’s management team and as principal-in-charge of many of the firm’s local municipal clients, was just a natural choice to lead its operations, Tague says.

Dimmick is excited about his new role at the company and the impact it will have. Leadership transition is an important part of strategic planning at a company, he notes.

The leadership change is the latest in a string of good news and happenings for the firm, Tague contends. “We’ve done well over the past few years,” he says. “We’re growing. We’ve expanded markets.”

Bernier Carr has also seen 19 of its employees receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) recognition of some sort — three employees are LEED accredited professionals while 16 are LEED green associates.

“We did that because we wanted to invest in our people and invest in the direction of our industry,” Dimmick says. LEED is becoming more and more popular as clients look to become more eco-friendly, he notes.

Bernier Carr (www.thebcgroup.com) offers its services as architect, engineer, surveyor, and construction manager to an array of clients including local municipalities, state and federal entities, K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and the health-care industry across the northern portion of New York.

The firm has a solid backlog of work that will keep it busy through 2013 and beyond, Tague says. In fact, the firm is looking to expand on its current staff of about 80 employees by hiring three to five more people.

Some of the Bernier Carr’s current and recent projects include Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, municipal sewer projects in the villages of Philadelphia and Owego, a sewer and storm water project in the village of Gouverneur, and a new county office building in Lewis County.

Also on the agenda is a search for a new CEO to replace the retiring Brown, Tague says. He did not provide further details on that process.

In a company press release, Brown said he plans to pursue a number of personal interests in his retirement as well as work with community-based organizations and his church. Beyor said both she and Brown plan to continue to contribute actively to the firm as well as the community.

Over the remaining months of this year, responsibilities currently managed by Brown and Beyor will be transitioned over to Dimmick and others at the firm.

In addition to Tague and Dimmick, there are nine other partners that make up the firm’s leadership team: Joseph L. Thesier, Mari L. Cecil, Matt J. Cooper, Michael J. Harris, Jason S. Jantzi, Mark B. Kimball, Gerald A. Kostyk, Mickey G. Lehman, and Shawn M. Travers.

James T. Bernier opened the engineering practice in 1970 in Watertown. The firm, headquartered at 327 Mullen St., Watertown, is a multi-disciplined architectural, engineering, land surveying, and construction management firm serving public and private clients. The company declined to disclose revenue information. The Business Journal estimates that Bernier Carr generates more than $15 million in annual revenue.

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