Entrepreneur Of The Year
Engineering a winner
How Smita Shah grew SPAAN Tech into an industry leader
Smart Business Chicago | July 2009
Finalist
Services
Smita Shah has always had a unique way of looking at things.
As president and CEO of SPAAN Tech Inc., Shah applies her unique views to make the company stand out from the competition.
The field of transportation infrastructure engineering does not lend itself to creating a business model that generates clear and sustained capacity for creativity and innovation in the development and implementation of products and services. Clients of engineers want things designed the best way possible for durability, whether that is a runway, bridge or an underground water distribution system.
To promote creativity and innovation in her business, Shah has brought in professionals who take a fresh look at and a new approach to standard designs and bring to the client options for design in everything from types of materials used to construction methods to phasing of projects.
Shah’s company remains competitive because she is not afraid to try new things and create new business lines. She started her firm as an IT company, then added electrical engineering as a business unit that grew into mechanical and plumbing design. Then she added civil design engineering, which then led the company into construction management.
When the IT world started to slow down, Shah realized that a natural outgrowth of this type of work is facility assessment and management. Many buildings rely on automation systems to run their inner workings and gather data, but building owners weren’t doing anything with the data. Some members of Shah’s staff develop capital improvement programs after assessing building conditions and the data collected from the buildings. Because of this, she has kept the IT side of the business growing by finding the next logical step to take.
For More Information: SPAAN Tech Inc., www.spaantech.com
