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HRG Earns Its Highest Ever Ranking on the ENR Top 500 Design Firms List

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Engineering News-Record magazine has published its annual ranking of the nation’s top revenue-producing architecture, engineering, and construction firms, and HRG moved up 25 places to number 315 this year.

Our revenue grew by more than 14 percent in 2025, outpacing the industry average, thanks to the continued support of our clients and the dedication of our amazing team.  Thank you!

Engineering News-Record (ENR) is a leading trade journal for architects, engineers, and contractors. It compiles its Top 500 Design Firms list annually based on the revenue that firms earned in the preceding year.

Caleb Krauter Named Top Young Professional by Engineering News-Record

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Cover of the February 2, 2026 issue of ENR EastCaleb Krauter is featured in the current issue of ENR East, a regional publication of the leading construction industry publication Engineering-News Record covering Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, D.C., New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.  He is listed as one of the year’s Top Young Professionals, an honor  that goes to 25 individuals the publication describes as “emerging leaders shaping the future of design and construction” in their region.  Nominees are considered based on their professional accomplishments and contributions to the community.

Krauter manages the team providing water & wastewater services in the Harrisburg office of Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc (HRG). He began his career at HRG as an intern, joined the firm full-time a year later, and was promoted to team leader in their water/wastewater group within four years before taking his current role as Harrisburg group manager.  During his time at HRG, Krauter has helped drive key innovations like the implementation of augmented reality and virtual reality technologies and the development of the firm’s intern development program.  He is also a leader outside the firm, as an active member of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), Pennsylvania Water Environment Association (PWEA), and Central Pennsylvania Water Quality Association (CPWQA).  He is a graduate of Leadership Harrisburg Area and also has 3 years of experience as a mentor through Penn State University.

Ridgway Riverfront Master Plan Wins Honor Award from PA-DE ASLA

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Recently, two of our landscape architects: Tracy Strickland and Jennie Ryan-Gisewhite, RLA, accepted an award on HRG’s behalf for the Ridgway Riverfront Master Site Plan we developed last year. The project received the Honor Award for analysis and planning from the Pennsylvania-Delaware Chapter, American Society of Landscape Architects.

 

Tracy Strickland and Jennie Ryan-Gisewhite accept the Honor Award for Analysis & Planning for the Ridgway Riverfront Master Plan

 

The Borough of Ridgway is a gateway to the scenic PA Wilds. Its waterfront area has the potential to significantly improve livability for the community and attract outside visitors. We worked with the borough to develop a master plan to improve public access to the river and create new public recreational space along the waterfront.

We collected extensive input from the community and regulatory agencies via meetings and surveys to determine the most desirable uses for the space and created several design concepts. Almost the entire site is located within the floodplain, so we carefully designed the concepts to incorporate flood mitigation and reforestation. You can see the designs below. The master plan groups improvements into five phases for implementation and includes detailed cost analysis and funding strategies.

  • Click the arrows on the right and left side of the image to view the slideshow

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Thank you to PA-DE ASLA for the recognition and to everyone who worked with us on this exciting project. Thank you also to the Borough of Ridgway for the opportunity and to the community for their ideas and engagement with the process. We look forward to seeing this area develop.

HRG Named One of the Largest Engineering Firms in Pittsburgh

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Point State Park Fountain Rehabilitation

Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) has again been named one of the largest engineering firms in Pittsburgh by the Pittsburgh Business Times.  We are ranked #8 in 2025, a significant jump from #25 the previous year.

HRG opened an office in Cranberry Township in 1994 and currently has almost 90 employees living and working in the Pittsburgh region.

“HRG has a great group of professionals and a loyal base of clients that continues to grow each year,” assistant vice president Jim Feath says. “Our success in this region belongs to them, and we thank them for continuing to work with us in this great city of ours!”

Waterford Covered Bridge Named Project of the Year

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The Waterford Covered Bridge Rehabilitation has been named Project of the Year by the American Society of Highway Engineers’ Franklin chapter.  HRG accepted the award last night and shared a brief presentation about the project, which involved repairing and reusing portions of this historic bridge wherever possible while providing the structural integrity to handle modern highway loads.  This was accomplished with a unique solution: the addition of a structurally independent floor system that absorbs the vehicle loads without support from the truss and roof.

Waterford Covered Bridge

The floor system is constructed of steel I-beams and nail-laminated timber decking to handle up to 15-ton vehicles.  The connection between the bottom chords of the lattice trusses and the steel I-beams allows the floor to deflect vertically under live loading, while the lattice trusses and roof system do not.  Conversely, the lattice trusses will deflect under the weight of snow on the roof, but the independent floor system will not.

The historic wooden truss and roof were covered with a stainless steel metal roof, which is better equipped to withstand the lake effect snow in the region.  It will shed snow loads more quickly than other roofing materials, reducing the dead load on the bridge.  The metal is also fire-resistant, a key consideration since a nearby covered bridge was destroyed by arson in 2008.

Thank you to the ASHE-Franklin chapter for this recognition, and congratulations to everyone who contributed to this project’s success: David McCowin, Matt Arena, RJ Pale, Justin Peaslee, Samer Petro, Geomechanics, Inc., PennDOT District 1-0, Waterford Township (Owner), Chivers Construction Company, Inc., (Contractor) Quality Engineering Solutions, Inc. (Construction Inspection)

We’re One of the Best Places to Work in Engineering

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Best Companies to Work in Engineering 2025 logoYesterday, we were announced as one of the Best Places to Work in Engineering.  This ranking is based on feedback provided by our employee-owners about corporate culture, training and development opportunities, salary and benefits, and overall employee satisfaction.

When asked what makes HRG a great place to work, 5 major themes emerged in their responses:

  1. Work-Life Balance – We have a strong emphasis on family-friendly policies and flexibility.
  2. Remote/Hybrid Work – Employee-owners appreciate the ability to work remotely or in hybrid arrangements.
  3. Fairness & Inclusivity – People feel the company is fair and treats everyone with respect.
  4. Positive Work Environment – HRG has a strong culture of support, kindness, and collaboration.
  5. Flexibility – Policies accommodate different work styles and personal needs.

Since our founding, we have always sought to create a place where people can feel proud of the work they do, be rewarded for their contributions, and truly enjoy the experience of working together.  This feedback from our team validates we’re succeeding. Thank you!

It’s #Good2bHRG

 

HRG Ranks Among Best Places to Work in PA

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Vincent DiFilippo Nature Preserve Honored as Top Project

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The Central Penn Business Journal has named recent enhancements to the Vincent DiFilippo Nature Preserve one of the region’s Top Projects. HRG worked with Silver Spring Township to restore wetlands and meadows, add new riparian buffer plantings, increase parking, and add a boat launch at the preserve. These improvements simultaneously help the township meet its MS4 pollutant reduction plan goals and nurture wildlife while improving the recreational experience for township residents.

 

Shawn Fabian with Silver Spring Township's Jennifer Groller, Carl Machamer, and Scott Maldonado at the Central Penn Business Journal Top Projects Award ceremony

Shawn Fabian with Silver Spring Township’s Jennifer Groller, Carl Machamer, and Scott Maldonado

 

The nature preserve was already a popular place for birdwatching and nature walks, but, thanks to this project, it now has more shade, more wildlife viewing opportunities, and more aesthetically pleasing views with colorful flowers and plantings that simultaneously reduce watershed pollution. It is a bit of a natural oasis in the middle of one of the state’s most rapidly growing suburbs, and the boat launch creates a new convenient access point to one of the region’s treasured recreational amenities: the Conodoguinet Creek Water Trail. An expanded parking area makes it all more accessible to users, allows for buses to more easily turn around in the parking area to facilitate environmental education programing, and created two new ADA compliant parking spots for easier trail and boat launch access.

The project is a great example of how investments in the environment and recreational amenities go hand-in-hand where there is smart planning and thoughtful design. Silver Spring Township has made wise investments in long-term planning, so that each project they do – big or small – supports the community’s long-term goals. These plans have helped them attract extensive grant funding, including more than $252,000 for the nature preserve enhancements in addition to the grant funding that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation brought to the table from grants they secured for the riparian buffer along the Conodoguinet Creek onsite.

We’re grateful to work with Silver Spring Township and be a part of great projects like this. Congratulations to the township on this recognition and to all of the project partners, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, LandStudies, and KLA Roofing & Construction. Thank you to Shawn Fabian and everyone on the HRG team who contributed their time and talent to making this a successful project, including JJ Robinson, Jake Hoffman, Eric Fleisher, Terry Meek, Katie Valla, Lauren Zumbrun.

HRG Named One of Pittsburgh’s Top Workplaces for the 3rd Year in a Row

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HRG has been named one of Pittsburgh’s Top Workplaces for the third year in a row! (Link opens in new window.) Kara Smith, Clayton Whitlach, and Andrew Scampone accepted an award on our behalf over the weekend, and we were featured with other winning firms in a special section of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday. HRG ranked in the top 10 of the Small Business category (based on the number of people working in our Pittsburgh office).

Clayton Whitlatch, Kara Smith, and Andrew Scampone accept HRG's awards at the Pittsburgh Top Workplaces ceremony, September 2024. They are standing in front of a wall of navy, yellow, and white balloons.

 

This award is based entirely on employee feedback, so we are especially proud. Employees complete a survey, answering questions about pay, benefits, leadership, and direction of the company. Being a Top Workplace means our employee feedback exceeded national benchmarks in these categories.

This year, HRG also received special recognition with an award for Work/Life Flexibility.

Thank you, team!

ENR MidAtlantic Honors Bob Grubic with Legacy Award

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Bob GrubicHRG’s chairman of the board Bob Grubic was recognized by Engineering News-Record as the 2023 ENR MidAtlantic Legacy Award Winner!  The Legacy Award honors an individual for a lifetime of service to the design and construction industry, their colleagues, and their community.  And what a legacy it is:

Bob has been instrumental in the growth of HRG.  When he joined the firm in 1973, we were a small company with one office providing civil and sanitary engineering services primarily in Central Pennsylvania.  Under Bob’s leadership, we expanded our service offerings and our geographic footprint significantly.  Today, we provide roadway and bridge design, landscape architecture, planning, surveying, site design, and more to clients in Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Maryland.

Bob has also left his mark on the community and the industry, holding leadership positions on the Pennsylvania State Registration Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists; the Harrisburg chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers; the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce; Harrisburg Builders Exchange; Central Penn College; Mid Penn Bank; the Foundation for Enhancing Communities; and the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts.

He was honored at the ENR MidAtlantic Awards Ceremony in Baltimore in early November.

Read ENR’s interview with Bob on their website (Link opens in new tab.)