Public client spurs private growth

Surviving through a recession will only get a business so far. Eventually, there's got to be growth.

Tom Brzezinski realizes that. And so does the company that he represents.

Brzezinski leads the Florida operations of Wade Trim, a Detroit-based civil engineering firm. This week, the company announced that it would be expanding by opening an office in Venice, its 23rd location nationwide.

It's a move that Brzezinski says bolsters current relationships in the short-term and provides opportunity for growth in the future.

“Right now, Venice is a client of ours,” Brzezinski points out, referring to his company's relationship with the City of Venice as an engineering company of record. But beyond strengthening ties with an existing customer, there are other benefits to be had from expanding.

Simply put: “It puts us in an area we're not in,” Brzezinski explains.

And that's not just any area, but one that includes Sarasota, a market he calls “very strong.” Brzezinski's nod to the Gulf Coast market, and his distinction between short- and long-term goals for his company, reveal move beyond the typical real estate player's reliance on government contracts to get through a recession.

“I want to make sure,” he explains, “and the company wants to make sure we are where we need to be when that market continues to come back.”