On May 31, Denver-based Swanson Rink will be officially opening the doors of its new office in Phoenix. The new branch will concentrate on exploring business in the mechanical and electrical engineering firm’s key market segments, which include data centers, aviation, retail, and corporate facilities. Through its Denver office, Swanson Rink has worked on several projects in Arizona and is currently providing services for large data center clients in the Phoenix area.
“We’ve had clients in the area that we’ve been working with for several years,” says Greg Korstad, P.E., VP electrical, who will head up the Arizona office along with two other Swanson Rink employees. “Those projects have evolved to other data center projects in the Phoenix area, so we thought it would be best to serve those clients and develop that business in the Southwest area by opening an office.”
The Phoenix office will also support projects by its baggage handling group. Currently, this division works in airports in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Nevada. “The location allows us to serve those clients,” says Korstad.
Still, the majority of the work will be supporting the Denver office, which designs projects for clients nationwide. “Most of our work is not in Denver; it’s all over the country, so it really doesn’t matter where people are located,” says Korstad. “We can connect them electronically and continue working on projects to support different areas.”
In addition to the three employees based out of this location, the firm anticipates hiring additional engineers and project managers. According to Korstad, one of each has already been hired for the new office. “One of the reasons we want to be in Phoenix is to find new talent, so that we can expand,” Korstad explains. “Electrical and mechanical engineers are beginning to be more difficult to find. Just having a presence in the Phoenix area will open up the possibility of hiring people in that area.”
