George F. Young

What George F. Young does

George F. Young, Inc. (GFY) is a private Florida-based engineering, surveying, and consulting firm founded in 1919, headquartered in St. Petersburg, and operating seven offices across the state (St. Petersburg, Tampa, Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Punta Gorda, Gainesville, Lutz). The firm delivers eight core service lines: civil engineering, structural engineering, transportation engineering, survey and mapping, environmental science and permitting, subsurface utility engineering (SUE), hydrographic surveying, and GIS. Project work spans utilities, stormwater, ADA, grading, structural design for buildings and parking facilities, roadway and pavement design, boundary and topographic surveys, wetland delineation and protected species surveys, underground utility location via ground-penetrating radar and vacuum excavation, and bathymetric seabed mapping.

Technology is centered on three platforms: NavVis VLX 3 mobile LiDAR for indoor/outdoor reality capture and digital twins; the Kongsberg EM 2042 multibeam echosounder for high-resolution shallow-water hydrographic surveys (installed in partnership with ECHO 81 in February 2026); and ESRI ArcGIS, which underpins the firm's GISaaS offering — a hosted, recurring GIS management service including ArcGIS Online portal administration and mobile worker maps for utility and municipal clients. The firm also deploys BIM, 3D analysis, and subsurface utility tools as part of standard delivery.

GFY sells primarily on a project-based, custom-quoted professional services model to two core customer segments: Florida municipal/government clients (cities such as Venice, Hollywood, Newberry, Bushnell, Dunedin, and Gainesville; utilities and electric cooperatives) and private commercial developers and institutions (Red Apple Group and Suffolk Construction on the 400 Central tower in St. Petersburg; Orlando Health on Institute Square; Clearsky Rehabilitation Hospital; Berkeley Preparatory School; Toronto Blue Jays spring training facilities). Pricing is quote-based with multi-year contract cadence on larger engagements; revenue is not publicly disclosed. The firm self-reports 1K+ completed projects and was historically employee-owned; on October 1, 2025 it was acquired by Nashville-based Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR), another 100% employee-owned firm, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary under the name 'GFY, an SSR Company,' with SSR's ESOP extending to GFY employees.

Name

George F. Young

Legal name

George F. Young, Inc.

Website

https://georgefyoung.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1919

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

George F. Young is a private Florida-based engineering and surveying firm (founded 1919, seven offices) delivering civil, structural, transportation, survey, SUE, hydrographic, environmental, and GIS services to Florida municipalities, utilities, and commercial developers as GFY, an SSR Company.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

St. Petersburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Engineering Services: Professional engineering services including civil, structural, transportation engineering, environmental science and permitting, and subsurface utility engineering provided on a project-based fee structure to government and private sector clients.
2. Surveying and Mapping Services: Land surveying, hydrographic surveying, subsurface utility engineering, and GIS services billed on a per-project basis to municipal and commercial clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

George F. Young is a professional engineering, surveying, and consulting firm delivering civil, structural, and transportation engineering; land and hydrographic surveying; subsurface utility engineering; environmental science and permitting; and GIS services to municipal and commercial clients. Services are delivered directly through the firm's own professional staff across seven Florida offices, covering project design, surveying, permitting, and construction-phase support.

Product overview

George F. Young is a professional engineering, surveying, and consulting firm established in 1919, offering a comprehensive suite of services across civil engineering, structural engineering, transportation engineering, survey and mapping, environmental science and permitting, subsurface utility engineering, hydrographic surveying, and GIS. The company operates seven Florida offices and services Florida, Alabama, and the Caribbean basin. Their service portfolio includes traditional engineering disciplines alongside advanced technology offerings such as Mobile LiDAR and reality capture services using NavVis VLX 3, hydrographic surveying with Kongsberg EM 2042 multibeam echosounder technology, and GIS as a Service (GISaaS) leveraging ESRI ArcGIS platforms. The company was acquired by Nashville-based Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. in October 2025 and now operates as GFY, an SSR Company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Civil Engineering Engineering discipline applying design principles to community infrastructure projects including utilities, stormwater management, ADA accessibility, demolition, and grading for municipal and commercial clients.
• Structural Engineering Engineering discipline designing structural components of man-made structures including buildings, parking garages, and other facilities, using 3D analysis software and BIM modeling.
• Transportation Engineering Engineering discipline addressing traffic-related problems through roadway improvements, pavement design, and circulation analysis considering the psychology and habits of traffic systems.
• Survey and Mapping Professional surveying services including boundary surveys, topographic surveys, tree surveys, construction staking, ALTA surveys, and subdivision plats for various project types.
• Environmental Science and Permitting Environmental assessment services including wetland delineation, protected species surveys, Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments, cultural resource reviews, and environmental permitting through regulatory agencies.
• Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Services for locating and identifying underground utilities to ensure safety of construction projects, including utility designation, location, and test hole services using ground-penetrating radar and vacuum excavation.
• Hydrographic Surveying Survey services for mapping underwater features using multibeam echosounder technology (Kongsberg EM 2042) for shallow-water seabed mapping, bathymetric data collection, and underwater survey applications.
• GIS (Geographic Information Systems) GIS as a Service (GISaaS) providing cloud-hosted GIS management, mapping, asset inventory, ArcGIS Online portal management, and field operations using ESRI ArcGIS technologies including mobile mapping applications for utility and municipal clients.
• Mobile LiDAR and Reality Capture Indoor and outdoor laser scanning and reality capture services using NavVis VLX 3 technology to produce highly accurate 3D data and digital twins for construction, architecture, engineering, and facility management applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• K+ Completed Projects
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025On October 1, 2025, GFY announced a strategic partnership with Nashville-based Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR), a 100% employee-owned engineering design, consulting, and planning firm. GFY became a wholly owned subsidiary operating under the name GFY, an SSR Company. The acquisition aims to expand geographic reach, ensure cultural fit, facilitate staff growth, and enable employee ownership participation through SSR's ESOP. GFY's existing management and project teams remain in place.
• Deren Land Surveying LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024GFY acquired Deren Land Surveying LLC, a surveying and mapping firm providing professional services to public and private sectors in Gainesville, Florida. Founder Dave Deren, PSM was appointed Vice President of Surveying for GFY, servicing the north Florida market. The new team brings 30 years of combined professional land survey experience.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Halff Associates: Employee-owned (ESOP) mid-size engineering/consulting firm offering civil, structural, transportation, environmental, surveying, and GIS services — closely mirrors GFY's full-service, ESOP-aligned operating model.
• DRMP, Inc. Florida-headquartered (Orlando) multi-discipline engineering firm offering civil, structural, transportation, surveying, and environmental services for municipal and private clients — directly comparable service mix and Florida geographic footprint.
• Pennoni Associates Inc. Mid-size engineering and consulting firm with strong East Coast/Southeast presence, providing civil, structural, transportation, environmental, and surveying services — comparable scope and firm size to GFY.
• Ardurra Group, Inc. Florida-rooted (Tampa) infrastructure consulting firm providing engineering, surveying, and environmental services to municipalities and utilities, with a similar mid-size, multi-office profile and Florida market concentration.
• Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC): Mid-size employee-owned firm delivering civil engineering, surveying, environmental, and ecological consulting to public and private clients — directly comparable in service breadth, ownership structure, and project-based delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Stantec Inc. Global engineering, architecture, and environmental services firm competing for large Florida municipal infrastructure and water/wastewater work — same service categories at much broader scale.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with full engineering, surveying, environmental, and GIS capabilities — competes for the largest Florida municipal and federal projects that GFY also targets.
• HDR, Inc. Employee-owned engineering and consulting firm (ESOP) with transportation, water, and surveying capabilities; competes with GFY on Florida transportation and municipal engineering work and shares ESOP alignment.
• WSP Global Inc. Global professional services firm providing engineering, environmental, and surveying services, with active Florida presence competing in the same municipal and developer RFP pools.
• Kimley-Horn: Large national employee-owned planning, engineering, and design firm with deep Florida presence, competing directly for the same municipal, developer, and infrastructure RFPs that GFY pursues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/georgefyounginc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/george-f--young-inc-
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• Xx.com/georgefyoung

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about George F. Young