Our Purpose
Working together to create lasting value in the built world by providing solutions for yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Our History
Buildings Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is a professional engineering firm specializing in consulting services for structural design and building renovation.
How BCG Was Established – A Crisis Turned into Opportunities
Keith Pashina and Lewis Ng started their careers at the same time in 1979 at a well-known nationwide consulting and testing firm, The Twin City Testing in St. Paul, Minnesota, after they graduated with Civil Engineering degrees. With their passion in engineering services and focus on customer services, they gradually won their clients’ respect and trust with clients repeatedly returning to request their engineering services. They established themselves as reputable and professional consulting engineers in their field.
In 1992, Lewis was hired by a nationwide engineering firm to head up a structural consulting engineering services department in the Twin Cities area. Keith joined Lewis immediately and both led the structural renovation service group to become a key part of the company operation. In 1994, that firm started shifting their business away from engineering service and later on faced major financial difficulties. As the group leaders, Keith and Lewis were asked by the company management to buy shares of the company to keep the company in operation. In light of this career crisis, they knew that they would be risking their personal savings and their careers could go potentially go down with this sinking ship. Lewis started to explore the pros and cons of starting his own business.
There is a Chinese saying, “To take down a fortress, you cannot do it with one arrow but with bundle of arrows”. Lewis recognized the merit of collective wisdom and talents in running a business. Lewis discussed the idea of starting a business with Keith, a material expert in existing buildings, and an engineer peer whom he met in an engineering conference, Louis Ho, a lead structural engineer in new construction who had experience in Chicago and Twin Cities area, to form an engineering group together.
In preparation for starting the business, they attended seminars on how to start a business in Minnesota, finance and human resource management (tasks that are outside of their engineering training and experience) to make sure the company was established professionally and successfully. On January 1, 1995, Buildings Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) was established and the rest became company’s history.
BCG Timeline
· 1995: Lewis Ng was President of the Company, Keith became VP heading up restoration, Louis became VP heading up New Design Structural Consulting and Sandra Ng became business manager heading human resource and finance operation.
· January 1995: Received 1st consulting contract with the 614 Company on the 2nd day of company establishment, and the 1st contract with a major corporation, Dayton’s (Currently Macy’s) on the 2nd week of company establishment.
· 2001: Lewis was named Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and was recognized at the State Department and White House for the Award.
· 2009: relocated to the current 2855 Anthony Lane office location.
· 2017: Sandra Ng was named President of the Company.
· 2020: Transition into New Management team
Notable Projects
Well known structural design at the Twin Cities areas included: The Hiawatha Light Rail Transit Stations, Terminal Two parking garage, Metropolitan Waste Water treatment plants, Transit stations at I-35W highway, St. Paul Union Station.
Well known renovation projects: Xcel Energy headquarters buildings and parking, Mayo Client buildings. Macy’s buildings and parking, Minneapolis Grand Hotel, Minneapolis and St. Paul Public Housing high-rises.
Our Values
Go One Step Further
We consistently deliver results that exceed the expectations of our customers by relentlessly elevating the standard of excellence. Going one step further is more than an action, it is a mindset. This means pushing beyond satisfactory and truly raising the bar.
Act with Integrity
We are honest, ethical, genuine, and we treat others with respect. This extends to everyone we do business with because it is the right thing to do. Integrity also means transparent communication, being respectful of timelines and budgets, being upfront when unforeseen conditions develop, and embodying a high degree of accountability.
Find Innovative Solutions
We approach complex issues with a focus on cost effective and efficient designs to provide the most successful solutions possible.
Collaborate as a Team
The strength of our team comes from our combined experience and expertise, but also in our ability to trust each other. We know that the best work is not produced by individuals but by teams collaborating and supporting each other every day. This mentality extends to our clients as we approach every business relationship as a partnership and work together to meet our goals.
Deliver Enduring Quality
Enduring quality means maintaining rigorous standards for our work, no matter how big or small the project. We care deeply about our work, about providing excellent customer service, and achieving lasting results for our clients.
Remain Flexible, Nimble, and Timely
We strive to remain responsive to our customers by tailoring our services to exceed their expectations and honor schedules. It is part of our culture to communicate with clients in a frequent and timely manner to ensure their expectations are understood and acknowledged.