ITHACA — A pair of upstate New York design firms that once competed against each other are now one. Before they linked up, HMH Site & Sports Design of Ithaca and LA Group, Landscape Architecture and Engineering, P.C. of Saratoga Springs were aware of each other, “operating in the same arena,” says Joe Sporko, president […]
ITHACA — A pair of upstate New York design firms that once competed against each other are now one.
Before they linked up, HMH Site & Sports Design of Ithaca and LA Group, Landscape Architecture and Engineering, P.C. of Saratoga Springs were aware of each other, “operating in the same arena,” says Joe Sporko, president of the LA Group. He spoke with CNYBJ on Feb. 18.
LA Group acquired HMH Site & Sports Design in a deal that closed in November. The firms didn’t release any terms of the acquisition agreement in the news release announcing the deal.
HMH Site & Sports Design specializes in the design of athletic fields and facilities. Founded in 2005, the firm has worked on projects for SUNY Cortland, Binghamton University, Farmingdale State College, and the Niagara Falls City School District.
The LA Group is a design firm that provides environmental analysis, land planning, and civil engineering for public-space planning, colleges and institutions, government projects, parks and recreational facilities, and private initiatives, according to its release.
The acquisition of HMH also means that LA Group now has an “increased focus” on resorts and recreation, including a niche in athletic fields, the company said.
Both firms handle jobs for K-12 schools, and colleges and universities, and that work will “often” involve athletic facilities.
“They’re a real specialist in … the athletic facility department and even though we were competing in that, having a real specialist in that arena … seemed to be a really good fit for us,” Sporko says of HMH.
LA Group had heard that the HMH ownership was looking for a firm “to pass their baton to,” he adds. The acquisition discussions between the firms started in the spring of 2015.
With the acquisition, the LA Group expands into the Ithaca market and adds six employees to its existing workforce of 40. An office in Ithaca provides LA Group a “bigger presence” in Central New York, according to Sporko.
The employees it added in Ithaca included Scott Hughes, Mike Herzog, and Josh Mike, the previous owners of HMH Site & Sports Design.
With the LA Group, Hughes is now a senior associate, senior landscape architect; Herzog is a senior associate, landscape architect; and Mike is an associate, landscape architect, according to the LA Group website.
“All the owners in our company and the three of them are all landscape architects … we think alike in a lot of ways,” says Sporko.
“There was an interest on the partners’ parts to transition and become part of a much bigger company,” says Hughes, former president of HMH Site & Sports Design. He spoke with CNYBJ on Feb. 19.
The firm is still operating as HMH Site & Sports Design during a transition period, but that could eventually change.
“The only thing different is we would handle the administration and the billing and some of the marketing here in Saratoga Springs,” says Sporko.
Founded in 1974, the LA Group has worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Park Service, and other developers and municipalities on urban revitalization projects.
