Industry Axis

Needham DBS, an award-winning structural engineering and design-build firm, has been certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise by WBDC-Midwest, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). WBENC Certification is the gold standard for women-owned business certification in the United States.

This certification is the result of extensive effort and sustained leadership by Karen Hand, P.E., President and CEO, and Susan Fox Sherry, CPA, CGMA, CFO, whose dedication, technical accountability, and disciplined stewardship of Needham DBS were critical to achieving this milestone. The WBENC certification process requires rigorous documentation and verification of ownership, governance, financial control, and operational decision making – standards that reflect how Needham DBS has long been managed.

From concept to concrete, Needham DBS supported Heartland Coca-Cola’s new Olathe Production Campus with Tilt-Up panel detailing, coordination and producing constructible drawings.

Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company’s new Olathe Production Campus (OPC) is now fully operational following its grand opening in June 2025. The 700,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility sits on 150 acres in Olathe, Kansas, just off I-35. It serves as the company’s second major warehouse and bottling operation in the Kansas City metro area, one of the largest in the Midwest. The expansive campus features 334 insulated and non-insulated panels cast with 8,210 cubic yards of concrete.

On September 27, 2025, the shores of Shawnee Mission Park came alive with pounding drums, cheering crowds, and the vibrant energy of the GWN Kansas City Dragon Boat Festival. This annual event celebrates teamwork, endurance, and cultural unity, drawing teams from across the region for an unforgettable day on the water.

This year, "Needham Invasion" proudly earned a Silver Medal in the 500m Premier Open Division, with an average finish time of 2:33.73 and a team best of 2:29.93.

Topping Out Ceremony

Needham DBS is proud to celebrate a major milestone in the construction of A.Y. McDonald Manufacturing Company’s new brass foundry in Dickeyville, Wisconsin. The Topping Out Ceremony, on August 15, 2025, marking the placement of the final steel beam, is a significant achievement for the entire team and a moment of pride for Needham DBS as the structural engineer as well as the steel detailer and structural steel supplier for the building shell.

As the structural engineer, Needham DBS designed the building shell to meet the demands of a modern brass foundry. This 360,000-square-foot facility required a robust structural system capable of supporting heavy industrial equipment, high-temperature processes, and future expansion. Our team worked closely with A.Y. McDonald, Russell Construction, and the construction partners to ensure safety, efficiency, and durability from concept through execution.

2025 Fort Wayne DB Team

The 2025 Fort Wayne Dragon Boat Festival was a spectacular celebration of teamwork, culture, and competition. Held at Promenade Park on August 1–2, the event featured 23 teams racing along the scenic St. Marys River, accompanied by vibrant opening ceremonies, live music, and traditional Chinese performances.

Needham Invasion entered the festival with determination and spirit, building on our experience from last year’s debut. We are proud to announce that Needham Invasion finished 5th overall among a strong field of competitors. Needham DBS began competing as a company team building experience to join together our Fort Wayne and Kansas City offices. This achievement reflects not only athletic effort but also the incredible teamwork and camaraderie that define our culture.

Needham DBS, participating under the name "The Uprising: Needham Warriors and Shield Maidens", made their festival debut at the 2024 Fort Wayne Dragon Boat Festival. The festival was held at the picturesque Promenade Park. The annual event, celebrated on August 2nd and 3rd, brought together teams from various organizations to compete. The team comprised of staff and spouses from the Fort Wayne office as well as the Kansas City office. The experience provided both team building and community involvement. It not only fostered as sense of camaderie amount the participants but also celebrated the rich cultural heritage associated with dragon boat racing. 

The Concrete Promotional Group (CPG) held their annual Sporting Clay event on September 13, 2023. The event was held at Powder Creek Shooting Park in Lenexa KS. Eleven employees of the Needham DBS Kansas City Office participated. It was a great opportunity to spend time together outside the office environment as well as networking with other companies.

It was our pleasure to welcome Dakota Payne to our team for a summer internship. We all really enjoyed his great attitude, passion for learning, and willingness to dig into all aspects of what we do here at Needham DBS. It’s a wide array, often with many hats to wear, and he was up for the challenge!

We had some great opportunities both in the office and on jobsites. Dakota played a major role in inventory and QC for steel deliveries on some of our large projects in central Virginia this summer. He gained some valuable knowledge about steel construction, tilt-up construction, structural engineering, steel detailing and project management.

 The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA)—the global authority for the tilt-up concrete construction industry—announced Karen S. Hand, PE, as the newest president of the TCA Board of Directors. 

Karen has served on the TCA Board of Directors since 2018 and the Executive Committee since 2020. For each of the past four years, she was named a “Top 20 Influencer in the Tilt-Up Industry” by the TCA and was the 2022 recipient of the David L. Kelly Distinguished Engineer Award.

Jeremy Stech, P.E., has been promoted to Engineering Manager of the Lenexa KS office. Stech has 20 years of experience with Needham DBS. He holds an Associates of Applied Science Degree in Architectural Engineering Technology from Southeast Community College in Milford, Nebraska in December 2002. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from University of Kansas in December 2015. He graduated with honors and was recognized by the civil engineering department staff, receiving the “Outstanding Graduating Senior in Civil Engineering” award.  

Jeremy has demonstrated his leadership skills, consistently gaining trust with internal and external clients. He brings experience with his project management, structural engineering and steel detailing background giving him a unique approach to economical and efficient building design and strengthens our Concurrent Design and Detailing approach to steel deliveries. We are thrilled to have him lead the next generation of engineers.

Needham DBS and T&T Construction wins a Tilt-up Achievement Award for Lilly RTP. 

The project is a $474 million development spanning over 750,000 SF across 11 integrated buildings. Features of the development include a 240,000 SF three-story manufacturing facility, a 200,000 SF two-story medical device and packaging facility, a 105,000 SF two-story administration and laboratory building, a 95,000 SF refrigerated Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) warehouse, and a fully functioning central utility plant. This project is a complex of buildings that are interconnected by a common corridor, which is 22 feet by 750 feet. There are six buildings adjoining the corridor from both the north and south, totaling a 324,847 SF building footprint with 688,392 SF of floor area. The project is a multi-level pharmaceutical production facility with floor level changes and pass-throughs between buildings. The Owner was committed to building a facility that was state-of-the-art and would carry their needs well into the future.

Needham DBS has delivered steel for the new 251,100 square foot building for Russell Davenport Industrial Park. The steel is part of a design-build package that was engineered, detailed and fabricated by Needham DBS. All the conventional steel products arrived mid-January and about half of the girders, joists and deck arrived the last week of January. The remainder of the steel is scheduled to arrive on site by mid-February.  The project is the first building in the 95-Acre industrial park.  Additional buildings for the industrial park are already in the works and will soon follow.  

Needham DBS delivered the remaining structural steel to Crystal Distribution in Waterloo Iowa.  The project is an expansion to the existing facility and consists of six building sections: an office, east dock/defrost section, operations section, west dock, freezer/cooler section and an engine room.  The final shipment of steel, 140 tons, arrived via eight trucks to the site January 25, 2022.

Needham DBS' Fort Wayne Office celebrated the success of 2021 with a year end Christmas Dinner.  The dinner was held in the Boardroom at Ruth's Chris Steak House in downtown Fort Wayne on December 11, 2021.

Needham DBS 2021 Advertising Campaign.

Needham DBS hosted one, two, THREE summer interns for 2021.  Chelsea Lewis returned for a second summer as the seasoned intern, she is pursuing her Master's in Architectural Engineeing at K-State. Blake Walker is a student at University of Kansas seeking a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.  Alexanderia Birlingmair joined us from Iowa State University, also seeking a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.  It was a pleasure to work with these three interns collaborating on projects.  During the summer we visited Insteel Wire Products in St. Joseph, MO and visited project sites.

Full Scale Panel Testing

Needham DBS designed and supplied the structural steel test frames for full scale composite insulated wall panel testing. Needham DBS, a charter member of the TCA, worked closely with the University of Nebraska Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction's Marc Maguire, PhD. The researchers, contractors, engineers and vendors worked out the loading requirements and the functionality of the test frames to perform the panel testing. Needham DBS was also responsible for the foundation design to anchor the test frames as well as communicating the panel design and detailing requirements for the panel contractor to build the panels.  

Design Build Steel, the "DBS" arm of Needham DBS, supplies structural steel products for all project types.  It was a pleasure to work on a unique project and donate the materials for the advancement of the tilt-up industry. 

Needham DBS 2019 Advertising Campaign - Ad 2

Needham DBS is a proud sponsor and exhibitor of the 2020 Tilt-Up Concrete Association Virtual Convention. 

Due to meeting restrictions, the TCA chose to hold a virtual convention for 2020.  Using Virbela as the platform, the TCA created "The Aggregate" where convention attendees created avatars of themselves bringing a human element to the virtual world.  The avatar concept allowed for real time interaction with other attendees.  Needham DBS team members had a lot of fun particpating in games, attending technical sessions, visiting exhibitors and networking with others in the industry.  Needham DBS is looking forward to seeing everyone LIVE next year in St. Louis! 

Needham DBS 2019 Advertising Campaign - Ad 1