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July 02, 2010 St. Louis Post Dispatch By Robert Kelly |
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Civil engineer builds success from MetroEast to St. Louis
 For many years, whenever transportation improvements are on the drawing board in the Metro East area, Oates Associates Inc. of Collinsville usually is involved at some level in the planning and engineering. Founded in 1980 by civil engineer David M. Oates, the firm has expanded its reach over the years to the Missouri side of the St. Louis area.
The firm now has about 45 full- and part-time employees in offices in Collinsville and downtown St. Louis, and still specializes in transportation and other public works projects. Oates has directed the company since its founding, but at 57, he's preparing to wind down that role, at least a little bit.
"I'm not quitting," he notes. "Part of my way of reducing work time is by not spending as much time in the evening at work. I plan to spend more time with my grandkids and the rest of my family."
Oates has been grooming the new company president, Bruce Schopp, and its chief executive, Joseph Hagerty, to assume more duties while Oates plans to gradually reduce his workload during the next few years. But Oates also says he enjoys his role at work and with various community boards and commissions, and he intends to keep promoting Metro East development as well as regional cooperation on economic issues.
Oates Associates bills itself as a full service, multidisciplinary planning and design firm, providing civil and structural engineering and architectural services. Oates says he's looking forward to continuing to mentor young engineers and also to keep pushing for future funding of public works projects throughout the St. Louis area.
He discussed some of what he's learned over his years of running his business.
Much of your company's work and successes have come from Metro East projects. Do you still see the Metro East as ripe for future economic development?
Yes, obviously depending on the economy overall. It's still slowed down everywhere. But I think the geographic advantage is still there in the Metro East.
My biggest concern regarding Metro East development is that downtown St. Louis is the engine that helps us and drives us. We need to attract more business that starts in St. Louis, so the health of downtown St. Louis is very important to us.
What are the biggest impediments to future Metro East development, and what is being done or should be done about those problems?
The levees that protect the area — getting those repaired is a very important matter. It would be hard to exaggerate how much having good levees affects the Metro East. They are needed to continue the development of the (American) bottoms area closest to the Mississippi River.
The problem is not water going over the levees, but water seeping under the levees. Predicting the magnitude of the under-seepage problem and figuring out how to fix it is much more theoretical than addressing higher flood elevations. Computer modeling methods and required safety factors have changed since the levees were built. They continue to be evaluated.
The financial condition of Illinois is a negative that also needs to be addressed. There's no popular answer. Everybody knows there has to be some type of tax increase to catch up with funding, but nobody wants to vote for it.
I've heard it explained by politicians on both sides of the aisle that you can't just cut yourself out of a budget deficit as large as Illinois' budget deficit.
What more should be done to foster cooperation on economic issues between both sides of the Mississippi River?
I've been president of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois and I'm still active with the council, which has had to deal with this issue. I think what is needed is just continued recognition that the Metro East is an important part of the metropolitan area and can help the whole area to grow. We also need to make people understand that there are many interesting things to do in the Metro East.
How big a role has Southern Illinois University Edwardsville played in Metro East development?
I'm on the SIUE Foundation Board and I'm friends with the university's chancellor (Vaughn Vandegrift). So I'm partial to SIU, obviously. Its engineering school, for one, is very well respected. We hire most of our engineers from there, and they are very qualified.
And the university's (recruitment of) students from all over is very beneficial to the area. The faculty and staff also add to the character of the community.
SIUE has gone way beyond being the local commuter college. Many of its programs are nationally recognized. And I think it was a good move to join Division 1 in athletic programs. That brings more students and fans here who wouldn't ever see the area otherwise.
Looking back, do you think there is anything you should have done differently in all your years of leading Oates Associates?
We opened a St. Louis office about five years ago. I think we could have done that a little sooner. It's a good idea to seek business on both sides of the Mississippi. Over the years, we've tried to have our growth contained a little bit to where there's work for us as we grow.
Our primary market from the beginning has been transportation-related. Illinois has all along used transportation consultants much more than Missouri has.
The question more than anything is how heavily the states will invest in transportation and whether that will continue. Public entities were slowly hit by the recession and are going to be the last ones out of it.
When will folks start building more major developments that require transportation improvements, like Collinsville Crossing shopping center? That's the big question mark now.
St. Louis Post Dispatch ©July 2020
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