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M
oreland Altobelli Associates,
Inc. was established in
1987 as a full service civil
engineering company. The company
was started by Thomas D. Moreland,
PE and Donato J. Altobelli. The
two had been friends at Georgia
Tech and then both pursued
public sector careers—Moreland’s
was with GDOT and Altobelli’s
was with the Federal Highway
Administration. As it would seem
logical, the company emphasized
engineering and program
management of transportation
projects. The company also provides
civil, geotechnical, site, structural,
water, waste water and storm water
engineering services as well as
architectural, landscape architecture,
land surveying and acquisition.
The firm is generally known as MA
and has been fortunate to grow
and provide services throughout
Georgia and occasionally in Florida,
North Carolina, South Carolina
and Tennessee. The company
is comprised of 330 engineers,
other professionals, technicians,
managers and administrators.
Q. What have you learned in 29
years in business? What is the
most important foundation on
which your company stands?
There is no substitute for hard
work. Whatever issue exists, turning
your attention to it, rolling up your
sleeves and analyzing the facts can
provide a solution. MA established a
mission statement which has served
as a foundation of the company. The
mission statement has the following
three parts:
• To serve great clients with high
quality engineering, management
and right of way services.
• To provide team for MA people
which is rewarding to them
financially and professionally.
• To be a successful business.
Q. Where do you see your business
in the next year? Five years?
The consulting engineering business
in Georgia is undergoing significant
consolidation. Small and medium
sized businesses, like MA, are under
pressure and have no choice but to
compete with the very large national
and international companies. MA is
equal to this challenge. We are
committed to our clients and will
offer superior service and superior
quality. We see the next year as
steady and we see steady growth for
the next five years. MA’s experience
in providing state and local
government with services to
improve the infrastructure is
unparalleled in the State. We believe
this is still a fertile field and look
forward to steady growth.
Q. What project are you most
proud of accomplishing?
MA is fortunate to work and live
where we can enjoy many significant
transportation improvements that
the firm designed.
• Serving as Gwinnett County’s
program manager for their SPLOST-
funded road improvement for a
number of years.
• The design, right of way acquisition
and construction inspection for a
series of improvements on I-85 in
Gwinnett County. These include the
interchange at Sugarloaf
Parkway, SR 20 and Old Peachtree
Road and most notably the
interchange modification the SR 316
and I-85 interchange.
• The design of the Kennedy
Interchange in Cobb County at I-75
and I-285, which added a new access
point at Cumberland Blvd.
• The design of a new interchange at
Atlantic Station on 17th street and
I-75 in downtown Atlanta.
• The design of Georgia’s first di-
verging diamond interchange at
Ashford-Dunwoody Road and I-285.
These are significant projects, but
all the services that all MA folks
provide every day are important and
we are accountable to our clients for
them.
Q. How do you keep more than
300 employees inspired to work
hard each day?
I find that people inspire each other
and work hard each day. It is perhaps
the strongest tradition at MA:
everyone works. One of the mottos
of MA is “MA—Where everyone is
someone.” I believe a major
contributor is that we work where we
live and we believe in the
projects. It’s our privilege to
improve an interchange or an
intersection and increase safety or
improve a park where our children
play or we walk our dog. Many of our
team members work as an
extension of our clients’ staff and
the work ethic shared by these
combined teams produces great
results.
Q+A SESSION WITH THOMAS D. MORELAND,
ALTOBELLI ASSOCIATES, INC.
12
the
EXECUTIVE