4 April 2021
com
profile
FEHR GRAHAM
MEMBER PROFILE
ENGINEERING &
ENVIRONMENTAL
Small-firm feel,
large-firm
capabilities
By Paul Anthony Arco
Mick Gronewold remembers distinctly
the catalyst that helped Fehr Graham
to evolve from a small firm to one that
could compete with the big boys in the
engineering world.
“It was 1998, when we lost the
opportunity for a water main job in
Freeport, which was right in our own
backyard,” said Gronewold, a principal
owner. “We asked the Freeport public
works director why we didn’t get the job,
and he said, ‘I didn’t think Fehr Graham
was big enough to handle the job.’ We knew
if we didn’t grow, our chances of securing
challenging work for our staff diminished.”
Fehr Graham, an engineering and
environmental firm, was formed by
two Freeport engineers, Allen Fehr and
Joseph Graham. The two competitors
decided after years of competing against
each other they could be more successful
as partners. They opened their first office
in the fall of 1973 in Freeport. Their first
client was the village of Lena, which
hired Fehr Graham to do curb work.
“They were great engineers who
came up with a business model that
encouraged young people to become
part of our ownership organically,” said
Gronewold, who joined the company
in 1993. “They created motivation for
growth early on.” Graham retired in 1987
and Fehr followed three years later.
Fehr Graham works with several
municipal, civil and environmental
clients, including the city of Rockford,
Loves Park, Roscoe, South Beloit,
Illinois Tollway, Illinois Department of
Transportation, developers, architects
and other private clients in Illinois, Iowa
and Wisconsin.
One of the firm’s biggest projects was
the Illinois Tollway’s $12 billion Move
Illinois program. Fehr Graham was
hired as part of a joint venture to design
a 7.4-mile stretch of Interstate 90’s Jane
Addams Memorial Tollway. The project
included replacing pavement structure,
widening the roadway and renovating
ramps to oases and toll plazas.
“Our services are broad,” Gronewold
said. “We provide municipal,
transportation, water and wastewater,
environmental, compliance work,
OSHA training surveying, landscape
architecture services and more.”
Fehr Graham has 10 offices in Illinois,
Iowa and Wisconsin. The firm opened its
first Rockford office in 1993. “What we’re
THEVOICE • rockfordchamber.
(Above) Fehr Graham employs a staff of 170,
including engineers, surveyors and landscape
architects.
(Right) Mick
Gronewold
trying to do is create
a firm with capable
expertise, the staff
to do large projects, but have them in
various offices across the Midwest to
maintain that small-town feel,” said
Gronewold.
The firm has a staff of 170 that
includes engineers, surveyors and
landscape architects. “Without our staff
we’re nothing to the very core,” said
Gronewold. “Our people are really the
backbone of who we are as a firm. It takes
grit, the ability to solve problems and
technical experience. When it comes to
our business, our employees are the face
of the company.”
Fehr Graham continues to grow.
Recently, the firm added 3,000 square
feet to its Rockford office in the Prairie
Street Brewhouse, a former brownfield
site that the firm helped the city of
Rockford remediate. In Freeport, Fehr
Graham in February relocated its office
to the downtown area closer to City Hall
and the courthouse.
Fehr Graham staff are involved
with several local organizations such as
Sharefest, IGNITE, Next Rockford and
Transform Rockford. “It’s important to
give back to our community,” Gronewold
said. “There are so many benefits to
volunteering your time, but making the
communities better where we live and
work, is one of the most important.”
While the past year has been
challenging for many industries, the
COVID pandemic has taught Fehr
Graham some valuable lessons. “We’re
a better firm today than we were a year
ago,” Gronewold said. “Our employees
have improved their communication
and collaboration skills to work better
with clients and with colleagues in other
offices, and that’s a positive.”
FEHR GRAHAM
Board Chairman, Mick Gronewold
200 Prairie St., Ste. 200, Rockford
815-394-4700
www.fehr-graham.com