A tradition of trust

Barber & Hoffman has earned its reputation
through 75 years of excellent service

Barber & Hoffman, a premier structural engineering company, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. In a field in which its work is seldom seen by the public after the building facade goes on, it has taken a leadership position, primarily on the basis of the trust it has earned from its clients and the consistent level of its innovative design,
quality and service.
B&H was founded by C. Merrill Barber, PE, in 1934. He earned a degree in architecture and engineering from Ohio State University but never practiced architecture professionally, concentrating only on structural engineering. He had been with Walker and Weeks, serving Cleveland’s iconic architects as chief structural engineer, and received permission to set up his own independent office, after becoming the structural designer of Severance Hall.

Being creators
Barber was known for advising high school and
college students that structural engineers and architects “come as close to being a creator as God gives a right to any individual. There is a little bit of you that goes into every job that you do.”
A few years after going out on his own, Barber was joined by engineer Nathan Hoffman, with Bronson McGee joining the firm in the early
‘40s. Both Merrill Barber and Nate Hoffman served overseas in World War II, focusing on engineering tasks for the armed services, while McGee led the firm on the homefront.
In the early ‘60s, McGee retired and Don Stenzel, PE, principal emeritus, Regis Campbell, PE, and Bill Grossman, PE, together with Barber and Hoffman, led the firm. In 1980 Harry Anderson, PE, C. Lal Lalwani, PE, AIA, and Larry Prickett, PE, now principals emeritus at the firm, came on board. According to Anderson, “We used to do the work back then with no formal contracts, just on the strength of a handshake.” Adds Lalwani, “Our work was based on maintaining constant client relationships.” Today, that tradition continues, and translates into Barber & Hoffman being able to respond to client concerns quickly, and with the force of full-spectrum structural services behind it.
Branching out
In 1970, Barber & Hoffman moved from a partnership model to incorporation. Barber & Hoffman offers structural and foundation design and total project management, as well as façade and parking structure investigation and repair, contract administration, and analyses, evaluations and surveys.
The firm, now in its fourth generation, is currently headed by Robert E. Jordan, PE, president; and Halim M. Saab, PE, LEED AP, Ronald M. Czaplicki, PE, Richard A. Christ, PE, and Michael R. Miller, PE, vice presidents. The latter is in charge of the Cranberry Twp. office in Pennsylvania, located at 215 Executive Drive. The firm opened that office in 1998. Says Miller, “Barber & Hoffman has developed good relationships with local clients. Our strength is we understand local construction, local contractors and techniques, geotechnical conditions, and codes."
Finding that controlled and steady is the pace when it comes to growth, Barber & Hoffman again expanded this year with a new Columbus Ohio office at 8720 Orion Place.
Growth, at Barber & Hoffman, is always predicated on stability, say its principals. It has had over its long history a succession of only
14 principals)–attesting to the kind of stability, and the collectivity of expertise and experience that clients have come to expect from the firm.

No egos
Says Anderson, interviewed as part of the 75th anniversary recognition, “In all that time, the firm has retained the same name. No one here has the ego needed to change it. We have reverence for our traditions, and that is what brings in the business.” Adds Saab, “It avoids confusion. The client can think of us based on our overall reputation and ability, not on a particular individual.” With that attitude, B&H has attracted more than 3,000 clients on an estimated 20,000 projects, with engineering registration in 12 states and the District of Columbia.
Its next move: Nothing flashy, just to keep on the way it always has, with offices in three locations satisfying the needs of architects, owners, contractors and building managers. “Our success," says Miller, “is based on creativity, ingenuity, and communication.”
The Barber & Hoffman family celebrated its own diamond anniversary with a company trip to see the Indians on their diamond at Progressive Field, but the celebration is a low-key one for a firm that
has begun as it means to go on, with its attention firmly on clients and projects. BXM