Davis & Floyd CEO Shares Insight About Company’s Success
Engineering a solution to a problem or tackling a massive infrastructure project often times requires an innovative approach. In this one-on-one interview, Davis & Floyd President and CEO Stephen L. Davis gives insight into how the company has literally laid the groundwork in South Carolina and built a framework for generations to come.
WHAT IS YOUR PRIMARY BUSINESS AND WHAT HAS SHAPED WHERE DAVIS & FLOYD’S FOCUS IS CURRENTLY?
We are in our second generation of ownership and effectively our third generation of company leadership. Our primary business is providing multidisciplinary engineering solutions to a broad spectrum of clients mainly in South Carolina but also around the Southeast. Our business spans many markets including transportation, government, industrial, environmental, water resources, and private development.
As a multidisciplinary engineering firm, we focus our efforts toward developing transformational relationships that integrate our talents and skillsets, or our team, with the needs of our clients. We want to build our clients’ confidence to engage our team early to help shape efficient solutions for their various challenges. This seamless integration and client-facing focus is why we have a 67-year history and why we will continue for decades to come.
D|F CERTAINLY HAS DEEP ROOTS AND AN INCREDIBLY RICH HISTORY HERE IN SOUTH CAROLINA. GENERATIONALLY, SHARE WITH US THE LEGACY OF DAVIS & FLOYD, WHAT THIS COMMUNITY MEANS TO YOU, AND HOW IT GUIDES YOUR BUSINESS.
We take pride in the fact that my father, Emmett I. Davis, Jr., and Phil Floyd started our company in Greenwood in 1954 and we maintain our corporate headquarters there today. We promote the same principles of service, integrity, and statesmanship that guided the growth of our company from the early years. With five office locations in South Carolina, we feel the entire state is our community. It is our job to be good stewards of the communities where our team members live and raise their families. Everything we do here at Davis & Floyd is grounded in that purpose.
YOU TALK OFTEN ABOUT DAVIS & FLOYD’S INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO MEETING A CLIENT’S ENGINEERING NEEDS. HOW DOES THIS DISTINGUISH DAVIS & FLOYD IN YOUR INDUSTRY?
When we engage with clients to understand their unique needs, it is often that funding and managing are as challenging as the technical solutions. We have a proven history of creatively identifying funding options and working with local, state, and federal agencies to advance projects.
We began as a surveying company and never shy away from a “boots on the ground” approach to solving a challenge by getting in the field. Once we understand a site in the field, we can take that knowledge back into the office and we are better prepared to test multiple designs and arrive at the best solution. We draw energy from being a part of a project from the conceptual design phase until ribbon cutting.
We are comfortable asking the “what if” questions relative to alternative approaches that may make projects better.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR DAVIS & FLOYD?
Our company is as strong as ever and we are continuing to grow and build on our legacy while growing in new areas and markets. We continue to invest in the personal and professional growth of our team to ensure that we are the most capable engineering service provider in our market.
Our Davis & Floyd platform has allowed me to take an active role in the development of mixed-use projects. The best example of this is working in partnership with Bob Turner to create what is now Habersham in Beaufort County. Traditional Neighborhood Design, also referred to as New Urbanism, introduced the notion of creating “new old places” to reside. We recently launched D|F Planscape to create sustainable spaces that seamlessly integrate modern design with a site’s unique landscape, while protecting the integrity of the surrounding environment.
First published by SC Biz News, a leading media company that serves high-level business executives in South Carolina, this article originally appeared in GSA Business Report and Charleston Regional Business Journal on April 19, and the Columbia Regional Business Report on April 26, 2021. Reprinted with permission.
About SCBIZ’s “Coffee With…” Series – This special editorial series features SC business executives sharing insights about their business, the industry in which they work and the community in which they live. Where’s the coffee, you ask? Well, that occurs in an accompanying video. We sit down with the executive – over coffee – to see what else is on their mind. You can check out Stephen Davis’ video on SCBIZ TV on YouTube. Here’s a link to the video D|F’s Our History.
