Greenhorne & O'Mara (G&O) is a multi-disciplinary engineering consulting firm that provides services nationally and overseas from its base of 17 offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
For more than 55 years, G&O has been an industry leader and provided award-winning expertise to federal, state, and municipal clients, as well as the private sector.
1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000sClick thumbnails below for larger images or browse the image gallery here.
- G&O was founded in Maryland by Marcus F.H. Greenhorne and A. James O'Mara in 1950. After working together for more than 3 years, they formed the partnership of Greenhorne & O'Mara, practicing in the fields of civil engineering, land planning, and surveying. After Mr. Greenhorne's retirement in 1965, the company was incorporated under the same name. Under Mr. O'Mara's leadership, G&O expanded to locations ranging from Pennsylvania to Florida, completed many notable projects, and received numerous awards. His professionalism, warm personal nature, and willingness to give himself in troubled times has earned his high esteem by all who know him. Mr. O'Mara continues to be a part of G&O's Board of Directors as Chairman Emeritus.
1960s
- Business revolved around surveying, planning, and engineering for transportation, land development, and sanitary engineering projects, then grew to add structural engineering, architecture, and photogrammetry services.
1970s
- Began providing environmental sciences consulting and floodplain mapping for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (a service that lasted through the early 1990s).
- Added land planning/landscape architecture, structural engineering, water resources engineering, transportation planning, construction inspection services, and military science.
1980s
- Added nine new offices on the East Coast due to a workforce that tripled during this decade, and a new, corporate-owned facility in Greenbelt, Maryland was built.
- The firm won an EPA Innovative Technology grant for wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
- Public involvement specialists, archeologists, and historic preservation specialists were hired, and military master planning and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) consulting began.
1990s
- Became a leader in military housing and built a substantial practice in base re-use in response to Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC).
- Won the U.S. Fish & Wildlife National Wetlands Inventory contract, combining G&O's expertise in environmental sciences and GIS consulting.
- Helped the FEMA Mitigation Directorate write its strategic plan, sending experts to assess damages after Hurricane Andrew, the Oklahoma City bombing, and other major disasters. Began to prepare booklets on how to prevent damages, thus influencing local and national building codes.
- Became the firm of choice for numerous state departments of transportation.
- Recognized in the national trade press for innovative use of CADD to streamline the design process and improve quality.
2000s
- Strengthened position as an industry leader in the area of hazard assessment and was asked by FEMA to lead the 25-member team that evaluated building construction, design, and fire protection practices of collapsed or seriously damaged buildings following the 9/11/01 attacks on the World Trade Center complex in New York, NY. As a result, G&O was recognized by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) for its role in fostering excellence in engineering design for its World Trade Center Building Performance Study.
- Supported Homeland Security efforts through its participation in the "133 Urban Areas Program", an ambitious plan initiated by the U.S. Geological Survey, with cooperation from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, to map metropolitan areas in the country with high-resolution, natural color aerial imagery.
- Expanded water resources services throughout the Southeastern U.S., including Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida.
- Transportation services expanded in the Mid-Atlantic area with the opening of new offices in Baltimore, MD, and Fairmont, WV.
- General Civil services grew along the southeastern portion of the United States and the Jacksonville, FL office was established
- Established a Federal Programs department to serve the federal and DoD markets.
- Chosen as one of the Top 50 Best Civil Engineering Firms To Work For by CE News.
- G&O moved to its newly-built headquarters building located in Laurel, MD.
- Frank R. Finch, P.E. was appointed President of G&O, as a major step in G&O's leadership transition plan.
- In response to the growth in Northwestern Florida, G&O acquired the Pensacola-based civil/structural engineering consulting firm of James J. Mallett, P.E., P.A. and the Panama City firm SCR Surveying and Mapping, Inc. to further expanded its capacity and range of services in this growing region of Florida.
- A. James O'Mara, P.E., P.L.S., the retired co-founder of the engineering consulting firm Greenhorne & O'Mara, passed away on November 7, 2007 at the age of 87.
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