Bacon Farmer Workman and Marcum Engineering Has Built a Foundation of Growth and Development Based on the Multiple Disciplines Represented Among its Many Skilled Professionals.

In 1996 Mark Workman and Chris Farmer sat down at the Twinkling Star and discussed the nature and future of the engineering industry. “We concluded that we were wise enough and experienced enough at 27 years old to start an engineering firm,” Mark recalls. “When I told my wife that I had quit my job and was starting a firm she cried. At that moment she was scared to death, but today she would agree that it was a great decision.” Today Mark and Chris along with partner Baccus Oliver own Bacon Farmer Workman and Marcum Engineering, a full-service engineering firm that currently works in fourteen different states and provides services in civil, mechanical, structural, and electrical engineering. The firm also offers landscape architecture and urban planning along with geotechnical, environmental, testing/inspections, and surveying.

Mark attributes much to those who came before as a foundation for the firm’s success. “Our former partners, Ron Bacon who recently retired, and David Ury who passed away, were an integral part of who we are today,” Mark shares. “I’ve got to look back at them and look at their contributions as individuals. I’m always amazed at what we have done and what we have assembled with the best team and the best clients.”

In the very beginning Chris and Mark worked out of Mark’s home as an environmental consulting firm. Their first name was Geotech Environmental Technologies and then Geotech Engineering and Testing. “We went by GET,” Chris says. When they outgrew that space, they moved to the Katterjohn building. “That was a very interesting building to be working in. I have great memories there,” Chris reminisces. “I remember when it would rain, the raindrops would hit the air conditioning so loudly that it would be difficult to hear someone on the phone. We only had two phones then!”

In 1999 they brought in Ron Bacon as a partner. “He brought in a level of experience that I, as a young engineer did not have then,” Chris explains. “We call him Wikipedia because he has either seen it done or has done it himself. Whenever anyone had a question, we could always bring it to Ron and he would look it over and figure out a solution. He still comes into the office on occasion.” In 2000 they, along with Baccus, purchased the electrical and mechanical engineering firm, Marcum Engineering, with Baccus managing the subsidiary. “Mark is the visionary. He comes up with the ideas. I usually have my head down working on something,” Chris adds. “I remember he came into the office one day and suggested we buy Marcum Engineering from Bill Marcum who was looking into retiring. We went to Bill’s office in Reidland and told him our idea and he was funny. He didn’t understand why anyone would want his name. But Bill had such a good reputation associated with his name.”

Today they have approximately 180 employees, 11 offices in five states, and work in 14 different states. BFW’s headquarters is currently on 17th Street, however as the company expands, they have again grown too large for their space. They are in the process of a large renovation of a building in Commerce Park with hopes of moving into their new location this summer. Growth is a major part of their five-year strategic planning. “We are anticipating growing our company to over 250 employees,” Mark shares. “We are looking at adding three offices in states other than Kentucky and expanding service lines of which we have already added two in the past 12-months along with another big announcement in June of this year.”

All three partners point to local schools and other projects as a point of pride. “For me Murray State University has been a personal pride. My wife and I both have degrees from the university. They have been a valued client of ours for over twenty years,” Mark comments. “I don’t think there is a project at the school during all that time that we have not touched in some way.”

“More widespread than that, I would say working with all our local school systems in the area has been a huge source of pride for us,” Baccus reflects. “We had the opportunity to design the new McCracken Country High School campus in 2013. We also got the privilege to update Tilghman High School bringing back some of its appeal from the 1960s. I’m also very fond of the work we did with the Innovation Hub and work the Hub does to inspire and teach skilled trades. Civically, we had the responsibility to stabilize and modernize Paducah’s renowned City Hall. Ron Bacon played a huge role in creatively finding a way to save the exterior of the building.”

“Knowing that these kinds of projects are needed and have an effect in improving the community are really satisfying to us,” Chris says. “We also come up with a lot of solutions that are unseen but play an important part in improving a community such as with sewer systems. This truly drives us. We want to help people.”

While thinking about the future, the partners are also thinking ahead of what the company will look like when they inevitably retire and transition ownership. They have implemented a training program to train future leaders and have started planning that transition to help remove future barriers that could be problematic for new leadership. But at the end of the day all three want to emphasize that what matters most to them is the culture they have created and the incredible talent they have present in the companies. To further develop this mission, they have instituted a leadership program headed by General Counsel and Human Resources Manager, Melissa Yates. “We want to be a leadership factory. The reason being it benefits everyone,” Melissa says. “I think a lot of leadership comes down to emotional intelligence and being emotionally intelligent makes you a better teammate.”

“David Ury said it best in one of the last video recordings we have of him. He was talking about our company and what are the things that we have to look at and be proud of. And he simply said, ‘At the end of the day, all we have is our employees,’” Baccus adds. “He’s exactly right. We wouldn’t be accomplishing all these things if we didn’t have the people we do.”

Source:
Hutchison, A. (2024, April/May). The Science of Success. Paducah Life, 61-62.