Our History
In 1973, Allen Fehr and Joseph Graham, both of whom were independent land surveyors and professional engineers, formed a new engineering partnership based in Freeport, Illinois. This partnership was final on September 15 and Fehr-Graham & Associates was born. With two partners and five staff members, Fehr-Graham specialized in Municipal and Civil Engineering. Following the end of a successful first year, Erwin Toerber became a third partner. As the years progressed, Fehr-Graham’s client base expanded. By 1979, Fehr-Graham became more heavily involved with environmental engineering, in addition to the current services.
With eleven staff members, Fehr-Graham greeted a new decade. That number grew to thirteen with the addition of partners Quentin Davis and Mark Young. By the mid 1980s, Fehr-Graham had completed its first major environmental project and had begun to significantly increase the volume of work performed in the environmental engineering area. Fehr-Graham’s client base had also significantly expanded to include clientele in the Rockford, Illinois area.
By 1991, both Joseph Graham and Allen Fehr had retired, in 1987 and 1990 respectively. With the start of the 90s, Fehr-Graham began to decrease work in the areas of energy conservation and mechanical engineering. The Municipal, Civil and Environmental Engineering work continued to grow and an extensive office expansion was completed. To kick off 1992, current partners Hans Anderson and Todd Weegens became firm partners. On September 15, 1998, Fehr-Graham celebrated its 25-year anniversary with four partners and 24 staff members.
In 2000, Fehr-Graham started the new millennium with a new partner, Michael (Mick) W. Gronewold. By the end of 2000, Fehr-Graham said goodbye to Erwin Toerber, who retired after 26 years. In January 2002, Ken Thompson becomes partner and by October, Fehr-Graham’s Freeport office was relocating to the current Main Street location. Fehr-Graham has five partners and forty-two staff members at the beginning of 2003 and transitions from a general partnership to a Limited Liability Company (LLC). A month after the firm’s 30th anniversary (Sept 15) the Wisconsin branch office opened. By mid-decade, Quentin Davis had retired and Adam Holder became a principal. Fehr-Graham finalized acquisition of Simmons & Associates, a Rochelle, Illinois engineering and surveying firm. With this acquisition came ten additional employees to bring Fehr-Graham’s total to five principals and 56 staff members. The 2006 acquisition of Ozyurt and Stone in Springfield, Illinois brought an additional eleven employees to Fehr-Graham.
Today, Fehr-Graham & Associates has five offices located in Freeport, Rockford, Rochelle, and Springfield, Illinois; and Monroe, Wisconsin. With approximately 100 employees throughout our offices and national outsourcing locations, Fehr-Graham has two divisions offering a wide array of Engineering and Environmental Sciences services.