ESP Associates Names Dave Dickey as Chief Executive Officer

Dave Dickey, Chief Executive Officer (Photo: Business Wire)

February 07, 2024 02:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

FORT MILL, S.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ESP Associates, Inc. (“ESP” or the “Company”), an ENR Top 500 multidisciplinary engineering design, planning, and geospatial firm, announced today that C. David (Dave) Dickey, Jr., AICP has joined the firm as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”). Dave brings a wealth of expertise to ESP, having served in a number of senior and executive leadership roles within the AEC community over more than 35 years of experience. A certified planner with a background in engineering and geology, Dave has an excellent track record for developing vision and advancing growth strategy, translating objectives into actionable plans, and providing decisive leadership across multiple critical infrastructure markets.

Mr. Dickey’s tenure begins immediately as he assumes leadership from ESP’s longtime President, Joe Hendrick, as part of a strategic succession plan initiated in 2017 when ESP partnered with Strength Capital Partners, LLC (“Strength”).

“After more than 37 years at ESP and nearly 25 years as President, I am deeply humbled and incredibly proud of the way ESP has adapted and innovated to ensure we remain a trusted partner for our clients and communities,” said Hendrick. “It has been an honor to lead this organization, and I know Dave’s leadership will take ESP to even greater heights as we continue to grow and provide opportunity to our team members for many years to come.”

“I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to assume leadership of a multidisciplinary firm with such a rich history of excellence across a variety of service lines and market sectors,” said Dickey. “Moving forward, I will be working closely with Joe Hendrick and the Board of Directors on organic and inorganic (M&A) strategic initiatives across the enterprise as we remain committed to strong client relationships, core values that reflect a healthy workplace, and strategic, measured growth that builds upon our strengths as one unified team of companies.”

Mark McCammon, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Strength, added, “We are excited to welcome Dave as the new Chief Executive Officer of ESP. Dave is an outstanding leader whose extensive management experience and exceptional strategic capabilities make him an ideal choice for our next CEO. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Joe Hendrick for his unwavering dedication and leadership both prior to and during our partnership with the company. As ESP continues its transformational journey, we look forward to working with Dave to build a broadly diversified, market leading infrastructure growth platform that delivers lasting value for employees, clients, and shareholders.”

About ESP Associates

ESP Associates, Inc., a portfolio company of Strength Capital Partners, is a multidisciplinary engineering design and infrastructure consulting firm providing clients with civil engineering, surveying and mapping, planning and landscape architecture, geo-environmental, environmental, subsurface utility engineering, construction engineering inspection, and water resource management services. Built on an entrepreneurial spirit, ESP is structured to stay innovative and adaptive. Since its inception in 1986, ESP has continually expanded its breadth of services, geographic reach, technology capabilities, and organizational talent to deliver complete project solutions that meet the growing needs of its clients. Now with more than 750 employees in 35 offices across the U.S., ESP is well-equipped to solve the complex challenges for today’s rapidly changing environment. For more information, visit www.espassociates.com.

About Strength Capital Partners

Founded in 2000, Strength Capital Partners is a private equity firm with offices in Birmingham, MI, Cincinnati, OH and Denver, CO. Strength invests throughout the United States in lower-middle market business with $2 – $20 million in EBITDA. They pursue investments in a wide range of industries with a focus on manufacturing, distribution, infrastructure and industrial services. Strength’s core strategy is “Industrial Consolidation” whereby they seek to grow and diversify their platform companies through a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic growth. For more information, please visit www.strengthcapital.com.