John Dunlap, center, with the Dunlap & Partners Engineers team. (Photos courtesy of Dunlap & Partners Engineers)
After more than three decades in the thick of Richmond’s engineering scene, John Dunlap is passing the baton of the 16-year-old firm that bears his name. But he’s not folding up his drafting table just yet.
The founder of Dunlap & Partners Engineers is handing the reins over to a new generation as the firm enters its next iteration as a division of Salas O’Brien, a California-based construction engineering firm that acquired it in December.
John Dunlap
The 69-year-old Dunlap is not retiring, however, instead staying on in an advisory role while continuing to practice his craft.
“They’ve been nice enough to let me stick around for a few years, hopefully,” Dunlap said in a recent interview. “I still enjoy what I do, and now I’m able to focus on engineering and let Charles worry about running the day-to-day operation, which is fine with me.”
Charles Ayers, one of five principals along with Dunlap who previously shared ownership of the firm, is now leading the local office as Salas O’Brien’s 39th location across the country. The office recently moved from a space on Laburnum Avenue to The Symbol building in Scott’s Addition.
Since the acquisition closed Dec. 1, the office has continued under the Dunlap & Partners name, with the tagline “A Salas O’Brien company” tacked onto the end.
Eventually, the name will fully change to Salas O’Brien, but the office otherwise will remain largely the same, albeit with the company’s resources and office network behind it, Ayers said.
“We’ll still remain a local firm. They didn’t parachute anybody in to run the firm,” Ayers said. “The whole goal of the merger was to try to really maintain the structure and leadership that were there before, and that’s another reason why we went ahead with it: the opportunity for the continuity of the leadership here and the senior folks we have here and making sure that stayed intact.”
Charles Ayers
All of the office’s roughly 25 employees carried over with the acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed. Companywide, Salas O’Brien employs more than 1,000 staffers with 260 professionally registered engineers.
For Dunlap, the transition marks a finale to a career in Richmond that started with Lanna Dunlap and Spriggs, a predecessor firm that started in 1987. In the early 2000s, when principal David Spriggs took the firm’s structural engineering practice to Draper Aden Associates, Dunlap launched Dunlap & Partners in 2004, resuming his previous role as company president.
At one point, he said, the firm totaled 65 employees, working on such projects as concourse expansions at Richmond International Airport, a renovation of The Jefferson Hotel’s Lemaire restaurant, and the downtown Gateway Plaza building.
More recently, the firm’s projects have included the St. Luke Building apartment conversion, a $4 million project led by Ayers’ father, Charley Ayers. The younger Ayers said the firm also is working on his dad’s St. James Apartments project next door.
Looking for a transition plan, the firm enlisted Arkansas-based Zweig Group to conduct a search for potential acquirers that led to Salas O’Brien. Talks started in February last year but were then slowed by the pandemic, Ayers said.
For Salas O’Brien, the office had a local brand recognition that Dunlap said it recognized was worth holding onto, at least for a while.
“The marketplace here in Richmond knew Dunlap & Partners. We had name recognition in the marketplace, and we didn’t want to give that up,” he said. “Over some time, we hope to transition the name just to Salas O’Brien.”
Dunlap & Partners moved into The Symbol at 3200 Rockbridge Road in Scott’s Addition earlier this year. (BizSense file)
Salas O’Brien’s arrival in Richmond follows other engineering firms that have entered the market in recent years. In 2019, NXL Construction sold to Century Engineering, giving the Maryland-based firm a local outpost. UK-based WDM opened a local office the year before.
While the Dunlap & Partners name will eventually change, Ayers said Dunlap’s reputation in Richmond — both the firm’s and the man’s — won’t be forgotten.
“John has been an icon in this region for a long time,” Ayers said. “He’s been a mentor to me for the 10 years since I’ve been here, and he’s been a fixture for a lot of folks.”
For Dunlap, who turns 70 in September, the transition is ending his career on a high note.
“It all worked out,” he said. “It’s been a good thing for me, for the firm and for all of the other partners. It’s time to turn the reins over to the younger folks.”
John Dunlap, center, with the Dunlap & Partners Engineers team. (Photos courtesy of Dunlap & Partners Engineers)
After more than three decades in the thick of Richmond’s engineering scene, John Dunlap is passing the baton of the 16-year-old firm that bears his name. But he’s not folding up his drafting table just yet.
The founder of Dunlap & Partners Engineers is handing the reins over to a new generation as the firm enters its next iteration as a division of Salas O’Brien, a California-based construction engineering firm that acquired it in December.
John Dunlap
The 69-year-old Dunlap is not retiring, however, instead staying on in an advisory role while continuing to practice his craft.
“They’ve been nice enough to let me stick around for a few years, hopefully,” Dunlap said in a recent interview. “I still enjoy what I do, and now I’m able to focus on engineering and let Charles worry about running the day-to-day operation, which is fine with me.”
Charles Ayers, one of five principals along with Dunlap who previously shared ownership of the firm, is now leading the local office as Salas O’Brien’s 39th location across the country. The office recently moved from a space on Laburnum Avenue to The Symbol building in Scott’s Addition.
Since the acquisition closed Dec. 1, the office has continued under the Dunlap & Partners name, with the tagline “A Salas O’Brien company” tacked onto the end.
Eventually, the name will fully change to Salas O’Brien, but the office otherwise will remain largely the same, albeit with the company’s resources and office network behind it, Ayers said.
“We’ll still remain a local firm. They didn’t parachute anybody in to run the firm,” Ayers said. “The whole goal of the merger was to try to really maintain the structure and leadership that were there before, and that’s another reason why we went ahead with it: the opportunity for the continuity of the leadership here and the senior folks we have here and making sure that stayed intact.”
Charles Ayers
All of the office’s roughly 25 employees carried over with the acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed. Companywide, Salas O’Brien employs more than 1,000 staffers with 260 professionally registered engineers.
For Dunlap, the transition marks a finale to a career in Richmond that started with Lanna Dunlap and Spriggs, a predecessor firm that started in 1987. In the early 2000s, when principal David Spriggs took the firm’s structural engineering practice to Draper Aden Associates, Dunlap launched Dunlap & Partners in 2004, resuming his previous role as company president.
At one point, he said, the firm totaled 65 employees, working on such projects as concourse expansions at Richmond International Airport, a renovation of The Jefferson Hotel’s Lemaire restaurant, and the downtown Gateway Plaza building.
More recently, the firm’s projects have included the St. Luke Building apartment conversion, a $4 million project led by Ayers’ father, Charley Ayers. The younger Ayers said the firm also is working on his dad’s St. James Apartments project next door.
Looking for a transition plan, the firm enlisted Arkansas-based Zweig Group to conduct a search for potential acquirers that led to Salas O’Brien. Talks started in February last year but were then slowed by the pandemic, Ayers said.
For Salas O’Brien, the office had a local brand recognition that Dunlap said it recognized was worth holding onto, at least for a while.
“The marketplace here in Richmond knew Dunlap & Partners. We had name recognition in the marketplace, and we didn’t want to give that up,” he said. “Over some time, we hope to transition the name just to Salas O’Brien.”
Dunlap & Partners moved into The Symbol at 3200 Rockbridge Road in Scott’s Addition earlier this year. (BizSense file)
Salas O’Brien’s arrival in Richmond follows other engineering firms that have entered the market in recent years. In 2019, NXL Construction sold to Century Engineering, giving the Maryland-based firm a local outpost. UK-based WDM opened a local office the year before.
While the Dunlap & Partners name will eventually change, Ayers said Dunlap’s reputation in Richmond — both the firm’s and the man’s — won’t be forgotten.
“John has been an icon in this region for a long time,” Ayers said. “He’s been a mentor to me for the 10 years since I’ve been here, and he’s been a fixture for a lot of folks.”
For Dunlap, who turns 70 in September, the transition is ending his career on a high note.
“It all worked out,” he said. “It’s been a good thing for me, for the firm and for all of the other partners. It’s time to turn the reins over to the younger folks.”