April 23, 2019 marked Baird, Hampton & Brown’s 27th anniversary as a multidisciplinary engineering firm. With three locations, over 100 employees, and hundreds of projects successfully completed each year, BHB is continuing to grow and thrive after nearly three decades of being in business. While proud of the success of a company he helped start, Bill Baird knows that business didn’t always come this easy.
In 1992, Bill Baird and Merlin Hampton, both up-and-coming engineers, left the company they were working for to start their own two-person engineering firm. With no work, no clients, and no money, all they had was used furniture, a used telephone system, rented computers, and the drive to succeed.
“We had a burning desire to build an engineering company in a conservative, deliberate manner,” stated Bill. “The landlord at the W.T. Waggoner Building let us rent an office on a month-to-month basis because we were too nervous to sign a lease.”
First known as Baird, Hampton & Associates, Bill, a civil engineer and land surveyor, and Merlin, and electrical engineer, started calling everyone they knew in order to get engineering work and cultivate lasting relationships. It wasn’t long, however, before the need for a mechanical engineer arose, so they called up friend and previous coworker, Les Brown: creating Baird, Hampton & Brown, Inc.
As work came in and business began to speed up, BHB started growing in size and by the end of 1993, BHB reached 10 employees – a feat Bill wasn’t sure would happen when starting the company nearly two years prior.
Bill’s cautious business sense made hiring new people a slow process, but only because he wanted to make sure that they could get paid. Each year, the worry of staying afloat decreased, while the number of BHB employees started to double—then triple—in numbers.
“This all happened with a lot of dedicated professionals, hard work, great clients, building an outstanding reputation, standing behind our work, and having a presence in our community,” said Bill.
Now, with 106 employees, five service offerings, and three separate office across DFW, BHB still holds true to its roots. The company is still managed in a conservative manner, and the staff echo Bill’s burning desire to have a successful engineering firm.
“Our future is bright because we have built a staff of outstanding employees. We all work together with a common goal, the same goal that we have had for 27 years: to deliver outstanding work for a group of great clients,” said Bill. “It is possible for every one of our employees to learn, grow, and progress through the company. We are thankful for each and every one of our employees.”
