What Seacon Associates does

Seacon Associates LLC is a privately held, Whitehall, Michigan-based executive recruiting firm that has operated since 1998, exclusively serving the civil engineering, architectural design, and surveying consulting niche. The firm was founded by Don Bills, a former Army Captain who began his recruiting career within the MRINetwork in 1990, and the broader team represents over 95 combined years of recruiting experience. Seacon serves private and government-sector clients ranging from 20 to 2,000+ person organizations, with a stated geographic emphasis on states east of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes Region, supplemented by an international recruiting network for broader coverage.

The firm's service offering is structured around two engagement models. Under the Contingency Search model, clients pay no upfront fee and are only charged when they hire a presented candidate. Under the Priority Search model, clients pay one-third of the fee to initiate the search, with the remainder due when the placed candidate begins employment. Candidates are not charged, and the firm commits to never recruiting from client organizations, reinforcing a confidentiality-focused value proposition. Seacon markets through a combination of Wall Street Journal advertising for executive roles, direct mail and email campaigns, and a proprietary candidate contact database of more than 62,000 entries accumulated over 25+ years. Cumulative operating metrics include 565+ completed searches and a 92% repeat-business rate from clients since inception.

The business is operated as a single-focus services firm rather than a technology platform, with no disclosed core technology, software product, AI tooling, or proprietary algorithmic sourcing system. There is no evidence of outside investment, parent company, or acquisition history; control is concentrated with founder Don Bills, who serves as President. Seacon operates from a single headquarters in Whitehall, Michigan, and maintains a strategic core partnership with MRINetwork to extend candidate sourcing reach beyond the Great Lakes region.

Name

Seacon Associates

Legal name

Seacon Associates LLC

Website

https://seaconmi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Seacon Associates is a Michigan-based, privately held recruiting firm founded in 1998 that exclusively places licensed civil engineers, architects, and surveyors for consulting engineering firms and government agencies across the Great Lakes Region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Whitehall

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Recruiting/Placement Services: Seacon charges clients for recruiting and placing candidates. Two fee structures are offered: (1) Contingency search - client pays only if they hire a presented candidate, with no upfront cost; (2) Priority search - client pays one-third to initiate the search and the remainder when the candidate begins employment. Seacon does not charge candidates for their services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Seacon Associates is a specialized recruiting consultancy that places licensed engineers, architects, and surveyors in civil engineering, architectural design, and surveying firms. The firm offers contingency search and priority search services to clients in both private and government sectors, leveraging a 62,000+ contact database focused on the consulting engineering niche across the Great Lakes region and states east of the Mississippi.

Product overview

Seacon Associates is a specialized recruiting consultancy that operates as a single-focus service rather than a software platform. The company offers two primary recruitment service models: Contingency Search Services (where clients pay only upon hiring a presented candidate) and Priority Search Services (a dedicated engagement with staged fee payments). These core offerings are supported by specialized recruitment divisions for Civil Engineering (covering disciplines such as highway, bridge, municipal, water/wastewater, GIS, and CAD), Architectural Design (covering architects and HVAC/electrical/structural engineers), and Surveying (covering licensed surveyors and crew chiefs). All services are concentrated in the consulting engineering niche, with geographic focus on states east of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Contingency Search Services Recruitment service where clients receive candidate referrals matching their requirements with no upfront cost; Seacon only charges a fee when a presented candidate is hired. Targeted at consulting engineering firms and government agencies seeking licensed engineers, architects, and surveyors.
• Priority Search Services Dedicated recruitment engagement where a Seacon recruiter makes the client's search their top priority, with fee paid in two stages: one-third to initiate the search and the remainder upon candidate employment. Targeted at consulting engineering firms and government agencies.
• Civil Engineering Recruitment Specialized recruitment for consulting engineering firms covering civil engineering disciplines including highway, bridge, traffic/transportation, municipal, water/wastewater, hydraulics, GIS, CAD, landscape architecture, and private development positions.
• Architectural Design Recruitment Recruitment services for architects and engineering professionals including HVAC, electrical, and structural engineers for consulting firms and architectural design practices.
• Surveying Recruitment Recruitment services for licensed surveyors and crew chiefs for consulting engineering and architectural firms operating in the surveying discipline.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MRINetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeacon was founded within the MRINetwork, which provides access to an international network of professional recruiting firms. This partnership enables Seacon to source candidates nationally and internationally beyond the Great Lakes region.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Kforce: Kforce is a professional staffing firm with a dedicated engineering and technical practices division placing engineers, architects, and designers. Comparable in serving the same candidate profiles as Seacon but at significantly larger scale across multiple verticals.
• Randstad Engineering: Randstad is one of the world's largest staffing firms with a dedicated engineering division. Overlaps with Seacon on placing engineering professionals but operates as a broad incumbent across all major disciplines and geographies.
• Michael Page Engineering: Michael Page (PageGroup) is a global recruiting firm with dedicated engineering, construction, and property practices. Comparable to Seacon in placing civil and architectural professionals, though operating at much larger scale globally.
• Robert Half: Robert Half is a major professional staffing firm with practices that overlap into technical and engineering placements. Comparable as a large-scale professional recruiter but focused primarily on finance, accounting, and technology rather than civil engineering depth.
• Aerotek: Aerotek is a large-scale staffing firm (part of Allegis Group) placing professionals across engineering, manufacturing, and technical fields. Overlaps with Seacon on engineering recruiting but operates across far broader industries and geographies.
• Insight Global: Insight Global is a large staffing and recruiting firm placing professionals across IT, engineering, finance, and healthcare. Overlaps with Seacon on engineering placements but serves a much broader set of roles and industries.
• Hays Engineering: Hays is a global recruitment firm with strong engineering and construction practices placing civil engineers, architects, and surveyors. Comparable to Seacon in candidate profiles served but with international scale and broader sector coverage.

Direct peers

• Selectek: Selectek is a technical staffing and engineering recruiting firm serving civil, structural, mechanical, and architectural disciplines. Highly comparable to Seacon as a specialized engineering placement firm with national reach and a relationship-driven search model.
• Sterling Engineering: Sterling Engineering is a specialized engineering staffing and recruiting firm placing engineers, designers, and technical professionals across industries including civil, mechanical, electrical, and architectural. Directly comparable to Seacon as a niche-focused engineering recruiter with contingency and direct-hire placement services.

Others

• MRINetwork: MRI Network is an international alliance of independently owned recruiting firms and the network Seacon was founded within. Adjacent rather than competitive — Seacon leverages MRI Network's partner firms for out-of-region searches, making it both an enabler and a loose ecosystem participant.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/seaconmi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/seacon-associates-mi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Seacon Associates