One of the best decisions I ever made was abandoning my altar boy dream of becoming a Catholic priest and hitchhiking from New Jersey to Georgia to become a Ramblin’ Wreck, and with any luck, a helluva engineer. As I stood on the side of the road with my thumb pointing south I had no way of knowing where my journey would ultimately lead, but I knew that the time I had spent in my grammar school’s extremely rugged Little Flower Daisy basketball program had prepared me for whatever may lie ahead.After graduating from Georgia Tech, I took a job at a small engineering firm in Decatur, GA called Patterson & Dewar Engineers (P&D). I started out analyzing electric distribution systems and designing distribution substations for electric utility companies by day, while attending night school at Georgia State to obtain an MBA and working part time as a management consultant for the Small Business Development Center.In 1982, I felt it was time for a new challenge, so in collaboration with JW Porter, I helped start a relay and grounding system testing department at P&D. A little later we expanded our services into the commercial and industrial sectors by merging with Richard Hood, an industry legend. This merger became Hood-Patterson & Dewar (HP&D), where I served as an electrical testing and commissioning engineer, vice president, and then president. HP&D is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of P&D and a leading provider of electrical and mechanical testing and commissioning services in data centers and mission critical facilities.The P&D Board of Directors elected me President and CEO in 1995 when the total revenue for both companies was about $4.8 million. Today, the companies project a total revenue of more than $70 million, more than 95% of which is from returning clients. This is a direct result of and testament to the integrity, work ethic, and dedication of the talented people who fill our ranks, and the loyalty of clients who continue to depend on us year after year.