Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood

What Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood does

Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood (GMC) is a privately-held, multi-disciplined architecture and engineering firm founded in 1947 and headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. The firm operates 27 offices across the US Southeast, including locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and is ranked #149 on the ENR Top 500 Design Firms list and was named ENR Southeast 2024 Design Firm of the Year. GMC provides architecture, interior design, and full engineering services (geotechnical, MEP, site civil, transportation, water), together with specialty practices in coastal engineering, disaster recovery, environmental services, landscape architecture, planning, and surveying, supported by AASHTO-accredited laboratories in Montgomery, Birmingham, Nashville, and Buford. The firm serves a diversified client base spanning municipal and state government, healthcare systems, higher education, K-12, commercial developers, aviation, hospitality, justice, industrial, and sports/recreation sectors, with named engagements at Auburn University, Clemson University, Health First, Ascension Sacred Heart, City of Birmingham, and multiple regional water and sewer authorities.

The firm monetizes through project-based professional services fees, typically structured as a percentage of construction cost or fixed professional service fees negotiated per project scope under multi-year contracts; pricing is not publicly disclosed. GMC's go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, leveraging deep local presence in each of its 27 regional offices to win work via direct outreach, RFPs, and RFQs from public-sector and institutional buyers. Its technology stack includes GIS-integrated design platforms, cloud-hosted data, drone and LiDAR-based aerial survey, GNSS and photogrammetry, AASHTO-accredited materials testing, and advanced numerical modeling for coastal processes; the firm maintains in-house environmental site assessment, biological resource management, and FEMA-aligned disaster recovery capabilities with combined decades of experience.

GMC's growth has been driven primarily by a disciplined acquisition strategy, including nine acquisitions since 2016 (e.g., SaltCo 2018, Bay Design Architects 2019, PDC Consultants 2021, Commercial Site Solutions 2023, Southland Engineering 2024, Cassetty Architects 2025, BFrank Studio 2026, Wiregrass Archeological Consulting 2026), supplemented by greenfield office openings in Charlotte (2022), Tampa (2020), Orlando (2024), and Conway (2026). The firm is led by CEO Jeffrey Brewer, CEO Emeritus Bill Wallace, COO Chris Engel, and CFO Amanda Davis, and is governed by a board that includes multiple EVPs and regional VPs, suggesting a management-controlled or employee-aligned ownership structure with no identified private equity, venture capital, or institutional investor involvement.

Name

Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood

Legal name

Goodwyn Mills Cawood

Website

https://gmcnetwork.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood is a privately-held multi-disciplined architecture and engineering firm founded in 1947 with 27 offices across the US Southeast. The firm delivers architecture, engineering, planning, environmental, surveying, and disaster recovery services to municipal, healthcare, higher education, and commercial clients via project-based professional services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture and Engineering Services

NAICS

Engineering Services (541330)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable/Green Building & LEED Consulting (BPAHAKAG)

Keywords

• Architecture design services
• Engineering consulting
• Civil engineering
• Environmental services
• Land surveying

Headquarters

HQ city

Montgomery

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices30 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Architecture Services: Full-service architectural design for civic, commercial, healthcare, education, hospitality, industrial, justice, K-12, sports, and other building types. Revenue generated on a project fee basis, typically as percentage of construction cost or fixed fee per project.
2. Engineering Services: Comprehensive engineering including geotechnical, MEP, site civil, transportation, water, coastal engineering, environmental, landscape architecture, planning, and surveying. Delivered as project-based professional services.
3. Disaster Recovery Services: Rapid response and strategic planning for community rebuilding after natural disasters, working with FEMA and state agencies. Provides debris monitoring, data management, and project support services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood (GMC) is a privately-held architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama that delivers comprehensive design services spanning architecture, engineering, planning, environmental, and surveying disciplines for public and private sector clients from concept through construction.

Product overview

Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood (GMC) is one of the largest architecture and engineering firms in the Southeast, operating as a multi-disciplined firm with a comprehensive portfolio of services. The company offers Architecture and Interior Design as its design-focused core services, supported by Engineering specialties including Geotechnical, Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing, Site Civil, Transportation, and Water Engineering. Specialty services include Coastal Engineering, Disaster Recovery, Environmental Services, Landscape Architecture, Planning, and Surveying. The firm serves diverse market sectors including Civic Buildings, Commercial, Healthcare, Higher Education, Hospitality, Industrial, Justice, K-12, Parks and Recreation, and Sports. With 27 offices across the Southeast, GMC provides local expertise with technical excellence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture
• Interior Design
• Geotechnical Engineering
• MEP Engineering
• Site Civil Engineering
• Transportation Engineering
• Water Engineering
• Coastal Engineering
• Disaster Recovery Services
• Environmental Services
• Landscape Architecture
• Planning
• Surveying

Quantifiable outcome

• Protective Stadium accommodates 42,000 fans for D1 football, professional soccer, and concerts
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Wiregrass Archeological ConsultingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026GMC expanded to Dothan, Alabama through the strategic acquisition of Wiregrass Archeological Consulting in 2026. This added archaeological consulting capabilities to GMC's service offerings.
• BFrank StudiominorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026BFrank Studio, a Tampa-based architecture firm, joined Goodwyn Mills Cawood, expanding the Tampa office's architectural capabilities.
• Southland EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024GMC expanded into Cartersville, Georgia in May 2024 through the acquisition of Southland Engineering, strengthening presence in the Metro Atlanta area with site civil engineering design and surveying capabilities.
• Commercial Site Solutions (CSS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 May 2023GMC acquired civil engineering firm Commercial Site Solutions on May 23, 2023. The acquisition added 12 employees and expanded GMC's presence in South Carolina and Florida, with offices in Greenville, SC and Tampa, FL. The Lutz office was established as a result of this acquisition.
• PDC Consultants, LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021GMC acquired PDC Consultants in 2021, an aviation planning, design, and construction firm focused on general aviation airports in Kentucky and Tennessee since 2006. Led to establishment of Williamsburg (Kentucky) and Brentwood (Tennessee) offices.
• Bay Design ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019GMC opened its Pensacola office in 2019 through the acquisition of local architecture firm Bay Design Architects. This established GMC's presence in the Florida Panhandle.
• SaltCocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2018GMC expanded to Sarasota, Florida in May 2018 through the acquisition of SaltCo, a respected architectural and planning firm. This move strengthened GMC's presence in Florida and aligned with creating spaces that reflect community character.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Barge Design Solutions: Barge Design Solutions is a privately-held, multi-discipline architecture and engineering firm headquartered in the Southeast (Nashville) with offices across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. It mirrors GMC's full-service A&E-plus-surveying model with comparable end markets (municipal, water, healthcare, education). It is arguably the closest direct peer to GMC given overlapping geography, size, and service breadth.
• Mead & Hunt: Mead & Hunt is a privately-held, multi-discipline consulting firm offering architecture, engineering (transportation, water, aviation), planning, environmental, and surveying. Like GMC, Mead & Hunt pairs architecture with engineering disciplines and serves municipal and institutional clients across the Southeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic, making it a very close functional match.
• Thompson Engineering: Thompson Engineering is a privately-held, Southeast-based firm providing civil, structural, environmental, and transportation engineering with surveying and construction inspection services. Its Gulf Coast focus, multi-discipline mix, and municipal/institutional client base make it a strong regional comparator to GMC's Southeast engineering practice.
• Halff Associates: Halff Associates is a privately-held, mid-sized multi-discipline firm providing planning, engineering, architecture, and environmental services across the South Central US. It mirrors GMC's full-service A&E-plus-environmental model with comparable revenue scale and private, employee-influenced ownership structure.

Broad incumbents

• Kimley-Horn: Kimley-Horn is one of the largest privately-held A&E consulting firms in the US, with deep Southeast presence and a multi-discipline offering spanning transportation, land development, water, environmental, and aviation. It competes head-to-head with GMC in municipal and institutional RFPs across the Southeast but is materially larger and broader geographically.
• HDR Inc. HDR is a global A&E and consulting firm offering architecture, engineering, environmental, and planning services across transportation, water, healthcare, and buildings. Its scale and Southeast footprint put it in competition with GMC for major healthcare, transportation, and water projects, but HDR's portfolio is much broader.
• Stantec: Stantec is a publicly-traded global A&E firm with practices spanning buildings, water, environmental, transportation, and community development. It competes with GMC on Southeast municipal, water, and infrastructure pursuits and offers the same multi-discipline single-firm delivery model.
• WSP Global: WSP is a global professional services firm with substantial US A&E presence following multiple acquisitions (Parsons Brinckerhoff, Wood E&I). It overlaps GMC in transportation, water, and environmental engineering in the Southeast and competes for larger infrastructure programs.
• Michael Baker International: Michael Baker International is a national A&E consulting firm with practices in transportation, water, geospatial, and environmental engineering. It shares GMC's municipal/state DOT client mix and project-based professional services model, though its end markets skew more toward transportation.

Regional players

• McKim & Creed: McKim & Creed is a privately-held, Southeast-focused engineering, planning, and surveying firm offering water, transportation, land development, and environmental services. Its geography, service mix, and client base track GMC's site civil and surveying practice very closely.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/GoodwynMillsCawood
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• Xx.com/goodwynmills

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A6 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood