Entrepreneurial Collaboration In Bartow Sees Green

Larry Madrid, the president of Madrid Engineering Group (MEG) in Bartow, was recently selected by South Florida Business Leader Magazine as a 2009 Mover and Shaker.

Madrid Engineering Group is a 43-person firm that specializes in sinkhole claims. Madrid is one of 18 people in Florida to hold a designation as a neutral evaluator. As a neutral evaluator, Madrid helps resolve disputes between insurance companies and policy holders to avoid litigation.

Madrid also has spearheaded the launch of Greenovative Design and Engineering, a division of MEG, which addresses sustainable design and green projects. During the planning stages of MEG's own green building, Madrid and his team learned what it takes to build a green building but they were not certified to do the design. They decided to pull together a collaborative group of environmentally responsible corporate citizens to assist with their efforts, and expand to serve others in government, industrial, commercial and private sectors.

Greenovative Design and Engineering formally launched in June 2009.

"We want to be at the forefront of this movement, so we actually started three years ago and built our own green building, one of the first in Polk County," Madrid says. "We intend to continue to increase our knowledge and skills so we can provide expertise to others who want to reduce their energy consumption, save costs in the long term, reduce waste, and protect our God-given natural resources."

MEG now has the first green building in Bartow.

Many of the Greenovative partners are LEED certified engineers and scientists, and additional certifications have been acquired since the launch of Greenovative Design and Engineering, including increased expertise in geothermal applications to air conditioning systems.

Greenovative Team Members also include: Jennifer Sturgis, VP of Semco Constructions; Terry Hunter, principal at Pickett Hunter Associates Architecture; Michelle Gamboa, project manager at Madrid Engineering Group; David C. Turley, registered civil engineer and MEG's liaison to the Florida Green Building Coalition; Cheryll Andrews, Greenovative's marketing coordinator; Richard Chruszcz, registered professional electrical engineer; Mark Westgate, senior electrical technician at Florida Engineering and Design; and Phyl Kimball, president of Kimball Environmental.

Writer: Nancy Vaughn
Source: Cheryll Andrews, Greenovative