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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After years of quiet, intermittent activity in the region, consulting engineering firm Associated Engineering Ltd. is officially establishing its base in Yellowknife.

Premier Bob McLeod chats with Associated Engineering Ltd. president and CEO Kerry Rudd, left, at the consulting engineering firm's Yellowknife office grand opening on Jan. 26. - photo courtesy of Associated Engineering Ltd.

The engineering firm, which first arrived in the city in the 1980s but pulled out following economic decline, was enthusiastically welcomed back into the community at the Jan. 26 grand opening of its new Northwest Tower office. The reception drew more than 70 guests, including other engineering consultants, Mayor Gord Van Tighem, and Premier Bob McLeod.

"I was really tickled with how it all went," said senior project manager Michele Guy, who has been appointed to helm the Yellowknife office. "Associated Engineering is the brand that I'm trying to make everyone aware of up here, and that was our official introduction to the Yellowknife community."

Headquartered in Edmonton, the company specializes in the water, transportation, infrastructure and environmental sectors, with work in the North including the construction of the Kakisa River Bridge, and construction management for the Deh Cho Bridge Project.

In the next month, an employee will join Guy at the Yellowknife office from Vernon, B.C., from Summit Environmental Consultants Inc.--a company recently acquired by Associated.

Having the environmental services in house is key, Guy said.

"It was an important strategic move for us to make sure that we had the environmental in house because that could make or break your project," she said. "Environmental is required up front, during construction and then after for monitoring. So what we do is we take care of the full gamut."

Guy, who comes from Arizona, knows all the ins and outs of engineering, having had her own consulting firm for 15 years before joining Associated. Despite representing the firm, which boasts its "global perspective" with more than 850 staff. Guy has an on-the-ground focus, which is why the company is confident in her leadership of the Yk office, president and CEO Kerry Rudd told Yellowknifer.

"What's critical to a successful presence is truly finding people that want to be a part of the community, which is where we're benefiting from having Michele," Rudd said. "Although the opportunities have existed before, to try and service them adequately by bringing people in and out is much more difficult to do to the satisfaction of our clients. So we could bring sort of global expertise but we need feet on the ground to deliver it properly."

Guy said the company aims to have up to 10 employees based at the Yellowknife office, and she wants Associated to become ingrained in the community.

"We're here to stay and we're here to build and be a part of the community," she said. "We're really excited at the opportunities that are available and at what we can bring."

Associated Engineering offices are also located in Whitehorse, major cities in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

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