Mesa Associates, Inc. founder, Chandrashekhar “Shekhar” Savant, received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. After working as an engineer for eight years, he left his home in Bombay and came to the United States in 1976. Finding work as a dishwasher in a restaurant allowed him to support himself until he could continue his education. Once the restaurant owner discovered that Shekhar was a civil engineer, he allowed him to design an extension to the restaurant. Thus began Shekhar’s engineering career in the United States. His wife, Ranjana, joined him eight months later.

After receiving his masters degree in Civil Engineering from the University of West Virginia, Shekhar and his family moved several times with various jobs until 1987, finally settling in Madison, Alabama, a suburb of Huntsville. Shekhar had carried a dream for several years to have a multi-disciplined engineering firm that would ultimately become international in scope and reputation. Together he and Ranjana talked about having a company that would be distinctly unique - not only unique in the way that it would treat customers, but perhaps more importantly, in the way that it would treat its employees.

Once they settled in Alabama, they made the decision in 1988 to charter Mesa Associates, Inc. While performing engineering for some industrial clients in the Huntsville-Decatur area during the early years of the company, the Savants made the decision to also pursue work in the electric utility market, a decision that ultimately led to the success of Mesa.

The spring of 1994 brought tragedy to the company when Shekhar was killed in an unfortunate accident during a tornado. Ranjana, with the support of the employees and managers of the company, decided to keep the dream alive. Ms. Savant, President and CEO, currently manages the multi-discipline company that has grown to nearly 400 employees with seven offices in the Southeast. While many corporations have let their judgment related to dealing fairly and equitably with both customers and employees be affected by the desire to increase sales and improve profitability, Mesa has resisted this temptation.

Mesa has continued to build strong long-term relations with its customers by dealing with them with honesty and integrity. Mesa’s employees are dedicated and take a very personal interest in making the company successful; this is a reflection of the way that the company treats them. Employees are looked upon as a part of an extended family and treated as such. Why should one assume otherwise, since this was such a vital part of the original dream - the ability to care for the families of the employees who are fortunate to be part of the Mesa family.

Today, Mesa offers multi-discipline engineering services to both Power Generation and Power Delivery markets. Our client base has diversified, serving utilities across the United States; over 75% percent of the company's $42 million in revenues for 2008 were generated in the electric utility industry. As a company, Mesa looks forward to continued growth in the utilities market by offering quality engineering at a good value.