It’s been 20 years since Abe and Nicole Adewale were a mom and pop operation. In June 1994, the engineering power duo opened their first ABNA Engineering Inc. office.
“It was really tough at first,” said Nicole Adewale, co-founder and president of ABNA. “We had a young family. Our first child was a toddler.”
Since then, they’ve grown from two employees to more than 80, and they perform work in about 13 states. It’s one of the top 20 engineering firms and top 25 minority-owned businesses in the St. Louis area. And they now considered themselves a “professionally managed business,” though the Adewales are still highly involved in the daily running of the business.
“St. Louis has been a stable bedrock for our business,” said Abe Adewale, co-founder and CEO of ABNA Engineering. “We anticipate that St. Louis will continue to be the headquarters of ABNA.”
On November 14, Abe and Nicole Adewale will receive the 2014 Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s 15th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon. The event will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, networking reception at 11 a.m., luncheon program at noon.
“We’ve gone from designing airports in St. Louis to designing much larger airports like Chicago O’Hare International Airport,” Abe said.
They’ve also gone from working on Missouri and Illinois departments of transportation projects to managing a multimillion-dollar interchange infrastructure in Illinois. Abe said it was “a four-year project that helped ABNA stand out as a phenomenal project manager on large infrastructure.”
ABNA has worked on the Metropolitan Sewer District’s storm systems, the Interstate-64 construction, Cross County Metrolink extension, Interstate 55 reconstruction and IDOT for major interchanges and toll ways. They were involved in the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport expansion for 12 years, which got them heavily invested in aviation. With all of the talent and experience that they gained from working on Lambert, they wanted to seek out other opportunities in aviation.
They decided to shoot for projects in Chicago because Abe had 10 years with IDOT as a resident engineer for major roadway and bridge construction projects. The aviation contracts didn’t work out right away because they were seen as outsiders, he said. They established a Chicago office in 2003 and began working on transportation projects with IDOT. After a few years in Chicago, they established a strong rapport in the city and were able to secure contracts during phase two of the airport expansion.
Within the last three years, they started a construction contracting division and now complete utilities construction work, including water lines, storm sewer lines, etc.
“Being engineers and working with contractors on a daily basis, the next logical step was to start a construction contracting division,” he said.
In addition to some of the large public projects that they’ve been involved with, Nicole said, “We are also very proud of the work that we’ve been able to do in the community.”
The Adewales are actively involved in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) programs, where young people design robots. Abe is the chairman of the ACE Mentor Program at the Construction Careers Academy, which helps the city’s high school students learn about careers in architecture, engineering and construction. His leadership also extends to the Science Center and Rotary Club of St. Louis.
They’ve been involved National Society of Black Engineers for many years and have raised ten of thousand dollars for college scholarships through the organization. They pride themselves in opening doors of opportunity for young people. For the last 10 years, they’ve made it a mission to have at least two interns.
“We’ve seen some of them grow in their professional careers and that makes us very proud,” he said.
Diversity is paramount for the company, Abe said.
“ABNA Engineering is what you would call the United Nations of engineering companies,” he said. “The reason for that is we have people from literally every continent in the world working at ABNA. We’ve gone to great extents to bring people together from all over the world, so we can utilize their experiences in helping our clients solve problems.”
In addition to the thanking the St. Louis American Foundation for this honor, Nicole said they wanted to thank their family, particularly Abe’s parents – Dimeji Rashid and Olubukunola “Buky” Adewale, and her parents – Robert T. and Jane R. Hutcherson.
She also thanked her four daughters for excelling, even though “mommy and daddy” had to work late over the years. Their daughters are Adeola, a fourth-year masters of architecture student at University of Kansas; Shola, a freshman civil engineering student at University of Kansas; and Fumilola and Folake Adewale.
She said, “This is really for everybody who stands behind us and continues to support us.”
The 15th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon will be held Friday, November 14, 2014 at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, networking reception at 11 a.m., luncheon program at noon. Tickets are $100 for VIP/Preferred seating, $75 for general admission. Call 314-533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com for more information or to purchase tickets.
