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| Robert Ober |
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| Michael Nearing |
A recently penned strategic alliance will leverage the material handling system design-build expertise of San Antonio-based Robert Ober & Associates and its Plant Architects enterprise with the industrial design and project management capabilities of Energy Architecture, Houston. Notes Robert Ober, the alliance brings an unparalleled industrial design-build team to the marketplace, positioned “to offer clients a complete package for project development, project management and commissioning of material handling systems that no longer requires extensive outside contract consultants for office, shop and facility enclosures.”
Plant Architects’ material handling expertise suits what Energy Architecture Partner Jay Ernst calls a “plethora of opportunities across the spectrum of the industrial landscape. We no longer will need to go searching for material handling and storage expertise from subcontractors to service our clients’ needs.” Existing RO&A and Energy Architecture clients will continue working with the representative of the respective company with whom they are presently engaged, he adds, while ongoing projects may receive additional coordination from both firms.
Concurrent with the alliance, Michael Nearing has been appointed chief executive officer of RO&A, Plant Architects and affiliated enterprises encompassing project development, design, engineering and construction services for clients in construction materials, energy, manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors. Robert Ober remains chairman and continues to lead project development and design/engineering services with his team from the flagship and affiliated business as Nearing focuses on operations and administration.
Nearing and his law firm are longstanding corporate counsel to RO&A. Prior to his own practice, he served as general counsel to Mastec, Inc., a $2 billion, publicly traded international construction products company; operated domestic and international aviation services firms; spent two years with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and—as a recent University of Pennsylvania Law School graduate—five years with the international firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
“I have assigned the role of CEO to Michael to better facilitate management of the multiple enterprises we presently operate and the strategic alliance with Energy Architecture, which is taking the company into larger and more complex projects,” affirms Ober. — RO&A and Plant Architects, 210/569-9262 or 832/684-5371, www.robertober.com; Energy Architecture, 713/487-3400, www.energyarch.com