Beverly, MA Meridian Associates has named Douglas Reed, P.E. as its new president and CEO. In this role, Reed will leverage more than 30 years of experience providing consulting services to municipalities, state and federal agencies, and private businesses in New England. Reed succeeds Charlie Wear, P.E. who remains in a senior leadership role.
Reed founded the firm FosterGrowth in 2010, which provides strategic planning and execution support for engineering, environmental and architectural firms as well as large utilities. He taught and coached sales processes, business planning, and project manager proficiency programs for companies with employees ranging from 25 to 1,000 employees. Reed is the author of the peer reviewed book “Lead a Movement: The Insider’s Guide to Powerful Strategy Execution” and dozens of publications, podcasts and blogs. As a result, he is an in-
demand speaker at regional and national engineering conferences.
Prior to founding FosterGrowth, he was an elected shareholder and senior vice president with SEA Consultants (now Kleinfelder) and Woodard & Curran, and a project director with Roy F. Weston (now Weston Solutions).
“Doug brings extensive leadership skills and success in driving growth and creating high performing teams. He is a recognized leader in regional and national professional organizations,” said Don Bowen, P.E., co-founder of Meridian Associates.
“Doug’s proven track record as both an engineer and as a business leader will be invaluable as we navigate the current situation. We are confident Doug is the right person to steer us through turbulent times and to steer us toward strategic growth,” added Richard Waitt, P.E., co-founder of Meridian Associates.
“I am excited to join Meridian Associates and I look forward to the opportunity to lead the company to the next level while guiding and mentoring staff,” said Reed. “The friendly and team focused culture has attracted a committed team of professionals, many who have been with the firm over twenty years. I also recognize that the firm has positioned itself well to take advantage of high growth services such as alternative energy and “big data” digital tools that are part of the revolution in planning, building and managing facilities and infrastructure.
Reed has made many professional contributions to the industry through multiple organizations and associations. As a waterworks practice leader Reed has held many positions in AWWA and NEWWA, most recently as an appointed trustee of the AWWA Technical Education Council. As a business leader Reed is a member of the ACEC Management Practices Committee, the ACEC Business Resources Committee and the new Engineering Change Lab-USA.
Reed earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University. He is a licensed engineer in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.