2026 Industrial Review Spotlight - Featured Company: DiPrete Engineering

What projects, initiatives, or types of work have been keeping your team busiest during the first half of 2026? One of the biggest shifts we’re seeing is the growing importance of infrastructure capacity in industrial development decisions. While traffic or drainage impacts were often the primary municipal concern a decade ago, today’s conversations increasingly focus on power availability, water supply, wastewater capacity, and resiliency. The rise of data centers has heightened awareness of utility demands and has influenced how communities evaluate all industrial projects. As a result, infrastructure readiness, permitting certainty, and site feasibility have become just as important as location and market demand when determining whether a project can move forward successfully.

What trends or shifts have stood out most to you so far this year within your industry? Our team is actively supporting industrial, logistics, manufacturing, storage, and mixed-use development projects throughout Southern New England. Much of our work centers on site feasibility, entitlement strategy, permitting, utility coordination, and infrastructure planning. We are spending considerable time helping clients evaluate development opportunities, navigate increasingly complex municipal review processes, and address concerns related to traffic, environmental impacts, and most importantly utility capacity. Redevelopment, adaptive reuse, and infill opportunities are also becoming a larger portion of our workload as communities seek to maximize existing infrastructure investments.

What challenges or opportunities have had the biggest impact on your business during the first half of 2026? The biggest challenge is aligning project demand with available infrastructure and predictable approval timelines. Many industrial users can identify strong market opportunities, but finding sites with adequate power, water, wastewater capacity, and transportation access is becoming increasingly difficult. At the same time, development costs continue to rise and permitting processes have become more complex. Municipalities are appropriately asking more questions about long-term infrastructure impacts, resiliency, and sustainability, which can extend project schedules and increase uncertainty. Successfully addressing those concerns early is critical to moving projects forward.

As we look ahead to the second half of the year, what are you watching most closely? I see significant opportunities in redevelopment projects and infrastructure-ready sites to support the growing technology sector. Communities continue to recognize the value of repurposing underutilized properties where utilities and transportation networks already exist. There is also opportunity for development teams that can proactively address infrastructure constraints and permitting challenges, helping clients bring projects to market more efficiently. As industrial projects become more complex, firms that can successfully balance economic development goals with community needs and infrastructure realities will be best positioned for long-term success.

Headquarters: Cranston, RI
Main Services: Land Surveying, Civil Engineering
Year Founded: 1988
States Served: MA, RI, CT, ME, NH
www.diprete-eng.com