Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design firm Gausman & Moore has merged with Ayres, resulting in an approximately 350-person firm with offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, Colorado, California, and Wyoming.

Gausman & Moore, operating as a division of Ayres, adds MEP, renewable energy, energy modeling, and design software to Ayres’ diverse services, which include the following: civil and municipal engineering, architecture, transportation, structural design and inspection, environmental, geospatial, landscape architecture, planning and development, river engineering and water resources, and telecommunications and subsurface utility engineering.

Gausman & Moore, which has offices in the Minneapolis/St. Paul and Los Angeles metro areas, has an over 80-year history of providing MEP consulting services. Ayres was established 62 years ago in the engineering and architecture fields, expanding into many more service offerings over the ensuing decades.

Both firms enter the merger with ambitious growth plans. Gausman & Moore will continue to team with its longtime base of architecture clients to design efficiency into buildings with its MEP, energy modeling, and renewable energy expertise. Gausman & Moore’s services can also be employed on Ayres’ utility, dam, moveable bridge, renewable energy, industrial, municipal, and street lighting and signalization projects. This energy expertise also adds breadth to the vision Ayres’ planning and development experts can provide as they imagine the potential of sites that developers are transforming in the Southeast, Midwest, and West. Gausman & Moore’s expertise has been instrumental in helping clients achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified and equivalent projects.

“We are honored and excited to be joining with Ayres,” says Daniel Sandoval, PE, Gausman & Moore’s president, who transitions to vice president of the new Gausman & Moore division of Ayres. “The cultures and business synergies between our firms align very well. I don’t think we could have found a better partner with whom to forge our future.”

“Ayres and Gausman & Moore share strong reputations in the government and commercial markets, and our combined experience in the education, energy, health care, residential, and industrial markets will bring our clients even greater confidence in our leadership in these areas,” says Bruce Ommen, PE, president of Ayres. “Culturally, this merger joins firms that are virtual twins, with our commitment to delivering creative solutions to clients we treat as partners, as well as our passion for giving back to the communities where we work.”