Keystone Associates adjusts to survive tough economy

BINGHAMTON — There aren’t a lot of huge building projects going on in the area, but Keystone Associates Architects, Engineers and Surveyors, LLC has managed to keep busy — and not just with project work. 

Keystone has also acquired another company, sent numerous employees for certification, and hired a number of new employees over the past year.

“We’re trying to be as active as we can,” Managing Member Kenneth Ellsworth says. While the economy is still down, it’s all about working to keep employee morale up and keep the company’s name out there in the community, he says.

Over the past few years, as commercial projects have dwindled, Keystone shifted its focus a bit, Ellsworth said. Among the top priorities was to use the downtime to send employees for various certifications, a process that typically involves lots of preparation and extensive testing. It benefits the firm, he notes, as employees gain key industry designations and certifications.

The other change at Keystone isn’t so much a shift in focus as a recommitment to how the company has always operated, Ellsworth says. Even in times of prosperity, no job has ever been too small for Keystone, and that motto has served the company well in the down economy. While big projects are few and far in between, Keystone has stayed busy with numerous civil-engineering projects, particularly for municipalities. Jobs have involved sewer, water, and storm projects, and included bridges, culverts, embankments, wells, and water lines.

“It’s good to have a lot of diversity and hot have all your eggs in one basket,” Ellsworth notes.

And while the firm isn’t booming like it was from 2006-2008, prior to the recession, things are busy enough that Keystone has kept up a steady stream of hiring. In the past year, Keystone has hired a new project designer, mechanical engineer, and construction manager. The firm currently employs 52 people.

Other benefits gained over the past year come from the acquisition of Hawke Engineering last August. 

“The merger was really good,” Ellsworth says. “It provided additional support for our civil engineering department.” It also brought new clients, particularly in Pennsylvania, and has allowed Keystone to sell additional services to the Hawke clients it gained with the acquisition.

The acquisition also brought geotechnical services to Keystone, and that has become an area where the company has seen steady growth, Ellsworth says. Geotechnical services include things like soil analysis, and that business picked up after the September 2011 flooding. “There were a lot of embankment failures, road failures, things like that,” Ellsworth explains. Keystone has been busy providing soil-testing services and making recommendations for improvement to prevent future problems, he says.

Another acquisition — this time of the records and clients of Binghamton–based Lynn Pullis, Land Surveyor in November 2011 — has also helped Keystone expand its services across the Southern Tier and into Pennsylvania. The records include 40 years of land-surveying data, primarily for Broome and Tioga counties and brought Pullis to the firm as a part-time employee.

Keystone also stays busy providing planning-board reviews for Bradford County in Pennsylvania. 

It’s all about being out there and being accessible, Ellsworth explains. “We’ll accept a four-hour assignment,” he says. “We’re not just looking for big stuff. We’re looking for whatever they need to help.”

Headquartered at 58 Exchange St., Binghamton, Keystone Associates Architects, Engineers and Surveyors (www.keyscomp.com) is a full-service architectural, engineering, and surveying firm that offers services including planning, feasibility studies, design, procurement, and construction.

Sister company Keystone Material Testing, LLC provides construction-material testing services and environmental-remediation services.

Contact DeLore at tdelore@tgbbj.com