Atwell, a national consulting, engineering and construction services firm, has opened an office in the Atlanta market to expand their presence in the southeast US. The new office is located in Marietta, Georgia at 1800 Parkway Place, Suite 720, and will be led by newly-hired Regional Vice President James A. Lowe, formerly of LAI Engineering. In addition to Atlanta, Atwell will also have satellite operations in Birmingham, Alabama and Jacksonville, Florida under the direction of Lowe.

The office has a two-fold strategic importance to Atwell. Primarily, it provides a geographic hub for expanded operations in the southeast US for regional and national clients in the land development, power generation, oil and gas and construction markets. In addition, Atwell welcomes a team of almost 30 engineering and surveying professionals to the firm, many of whom worked with Lowe in the past.

“We have been interested in Atlanta for quite a while,” said President and CEO Brian R. Wenzel. “When the opportunity to hire a tremendous team of people presented itself, we saw a chance to expand our capabilities in the southeast US, while adding great people into our organization.”

Previously serving as the president of LAI Engineering, Lowe has more than 30 years of experience in engineering design and management of municipal, commercial, residential, transportation and industrial projects. He is a licensed professional engineer in Georgia and a dozen other states, and brings the market knowledge, client relationships and technical prowess to lead this region and its diversified client base.

“I look forward to the opportunity to work with the Atwell organization, to offer a wider variety of solutions and services to both existing and new clients,” said Lowe. “This is an exciting move for me and the team.”

This is the third transaction Atwell has announced since the beginning of the year.