HISTORY
How
TapanAm was born and came so far in 25 years…
Tapan Banerjee, BSCE, P.E., C. Eng. F.I. STRUCT. E. (London) is the founder/President of TapanAm Associates, Inc. His background experience is quite diverse; he lived and worked in India, England and Canada before settling in the United States. In London he worked with several Structural Consultants for nearly 8 years and with that experience he passed the Structural Examinations to qualify as a Chartered Structural Engineer. He came to Kansas City, USA in March of 1981. In 1982 he decided to use his technical skills, and believing strongly in his ability to develop business relationships, he embarked on starting his own Structural design business. In April 1983, he incorporated his company, naming it TapanAm Associates, Inc.
He started practicing Structural Engineering with a small staff of 6-8 persons for about 5 years until he found a bigger opportunity offered by the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program. In 1989, the company successfully qualified to join the 8(a) Federal Small Business Development program, for a period from 1989 – 1998.
During these 9 years, many doors were opened to TapanAm, including the Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, etc. TapanAm received several Indefinite Delivery On-Call Contracts. The task orders from these contracts opened up the opportunities to become PRIME Design Consultants. The task-orders also demanded multiple disciplines so TapanAm hired Architects, Structural, MEP and Civil/ Environmental Engineers.
In the mid-nineties, TapanAm was quite well established as a multi-discipline A-E firm. However, the Company realized that their SBA 8(a) contract was coming to an end in August of 1998 which meant they would then face the difficult challenge of diversifying their client base in order to survive outside the Federal market place. Accepting the inevitable, TapanAm started the diversification plan before the actual graduation from the 8(a) program in August 1998.
In June 2000, TapanAm relocated to their own newly purchased 9,000 sq. ft. building in Martin City, Missouri. This was a very strategic decision which fit into Mr. Banerjee’s plan to develop opportunities to move the company in the right direction.
Mr. Banerjee then began his plan to re-structure the firm to technically and financially strengthen his Company’s position. He planned and executed the following steps:
1. Replaced several Key Senior Staff whose design expertise and ability to attract business to the firm fell well short of expectation. By this time, Mr. Banerjee had learned by experience that to be effective, one needed to put the “right” person in the “right” position. As a result, over the period of one year, HANDS-ON Principals, Sr. Engineers and CAD Technicians were brought in to re-energize TapanAm’s manpower capabilities.
2. Anchoring the office in TapanAm’s own building in Kansas City, Missouri, created a comfortable environment from which to extend and diversify the business in Missouri and beyond.
3. In early 2003, Mr. Banerjee started to expand and strengthen the MEP design group by hiring two brilliant hands-on Sr. Mechanical and Sr. Electrical Engineers. With the addition of several young P.E.’s and CAD Technicians, the MEP group began to thrive with new and repeat business.
4. Over the last 5 years TapanAm has diversified considerably, primarily in the following areas:
+ Transportation: Diverse Bridge and
Roadway Design Projects
+ Healthcare Facility Design: Design-Build MEP (new or
upgrades) with Prime contractors.
+ Electrical Design: for coal/limestone conveyors for
power plants.
5. TapanAm’s Structural group is the oldest and has been the most stable. The design group is equally strong in the design of Buildings as well as Bridges. In order to expand the Company’s structural design business, TapanAm’s Structural Design Director, Dan SenGupta, M.S., P.E. has been taking examinations and has been awarded S.E. licenses for several Western States such as Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii etc. Mr. Banerjee is currently pursuing the expansion of the Company’s business in the design of ‘diverse’ structural projects in the challenging seismic zones in western states including California.
Today, it is evident that Mr. Banerjee’s plans have been successful. His desire to lead TapanAm to a state of financial stability and profitability has been realized. Employee satisfaction is at its highest level. TapanAm’s HANDS-ON Principals (Board Members) are continually receiving calls for new or repeat business from clients. In February of 2008, TapanAm Associates, Inc. received a “Distinguished Service Award” from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) in Missouri. (See Attached)
Mr Banerjee’s hope for the future is to continue this dynamic growth after “25 years of service of the highest standards to clients, the public and the engineering profession”.
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Three Company Principals and Directors: From left: Dan SenGupta, P.E., S.E. (Structural, Secretary) Tapan Banerjee, P.E. (President, Chairman) Paul Parks, Sr. VP, P.E., (Civil / Transportation) |
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