The month of May marks a special milestone for Colby Company – we are celebrating 15 years in business this month.
Since its inception in 2008, Colby Co. has grown from a company of 4 people working in the Colby’s home in Lyman, Maine – to a 65+ person company with a bustling office in downtown Portland.
When asked why they decided to start their own business, the Colbys said the following:
“As I matured as an engineer and manager, I thought that I could run a design and construction management firm differently, building on the knowledge that I had gained,” Calen Colby said. “I thought that we could truly listen to our clients and give them what they needed, and that we could treat each other with kindness and respect as we worked together. One of the greatest joys of this career is when a highly functioning team gets together and brings all the best ideas forward for consideration on a project.”
Sarah Emily Colby said that while the timing of launching their business was scary, it created a unique opportunity for them as well. “Starting a business during a strong economy and then watching the economy fall into a deep recession four months later is a feeling of unease that I will never forget. Our industry was hit very hard during this time period but the silver lining is that it allowed us to hire some very talented people when we were a young company.”
Colby Company has registrations in 35 states, six Canadian Provinces, and world-wide project experience. We have provided designs for new projects and renovations with estimated construction costs ranging from $100,000 to $100,000,000. Colby Co. has served as the prime Architecture and Engineering firm for the design of building projects totaling a combined $500M+ in construction costs.
In 2020, Ben Townsend and Brian Beaulieu were added to the ownership team. Brian was the first employee at Colby Co., and Ben has been with the company since 2010. They have both grown with the company in the years that followed, and served as both engineers and project managers, before becoming part owners in 2020.
“As engineers and architects, we have one of the best jobs,” Townsend said when asked why he decided to join the leadership team. “There are no two projects that are the same and there is something to learn on every project. There is so much joy in seeing the facilities that take months and years for planning and design come to life and to be a part of that team. There is also nothing more enjoyable than seeing team members grow and to help foster an environment of continuing growth and knowledge. Being able to support the many exciting and challenging projects with our clients and working with the tremendous, creative, and bright team members at Colby Co. is a dream opportunity and job.”
So, what does the future look like for CCE? “I hope each and every one of us continues to put family first and treat each other with respect and kindness,” Beaulieu said. “That, followed by continuing to provide amazing customer service to our clients. If we focus on that, everything else will fall into place. I also hope that we continue to land exciting, challenging and creative projects that stretch all of our potential and make us enjoy coming to work each day.”
15 years later, Colby Co. remains committed to the principles it was founded on (and many phrases that any employee or friend of CCE know well): Our first priority is to keep people safe, and our second priority is to create fun, interesting designs; family comes first, always; remember to ask, “How can I help?”; always say the second thing that comes to your mind, and make sure it is kind.
CCE celebrates design, collaboration, successes of coworkers, volunteering and giving back to the community, and is a proud Maine-owned business who loves to celebrate and support other local Maine businesses. We are looking forward to seeing how our story continues in the next 15 years and beyond.