BETA Group, Inc. Integrates with GLA, Adding Landscape Architecture Division

Leading Engineering Firm BETA Group, Inc. Adds Landscape Architecture & Planning Division Led by GLA

LINCOLN, R.I. – June 4, 2012 – Leading regional engineering firm BETA Group, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has expanded and integrated its services with the professional staff of landscape architecture firm Gates, Leighton & Associates (GLA). After some 20 years of collaboration, GLA will now formally function as a division of BETA to provide New England with sustainable solutions for landscape architecture, urban design and land planning. GLA operations will move to BETA’s offices in Norwood, MA, and Lincoln, RI, and company management anticipates this integration will help to further expand the geographic footprint of the company.

GLA is the largest landscape architecture firm in Rhode Island, focusing in public, commercial and international hospitality developments. BETA is one of the largest environmental and transportation engineering firms in New England with over 100 employees. With the addition of the GLA Division, BETA will offer more versatile public and private improvement solutions that are of great value to New England communities.

GLA President Donald S. Leighton will be integrated into BETA leadership as a VP of BETA and Director of the GLA Division. “Acting as a combined entity will help to better serve our clientele throughout the New England community,” said BETA President Frank Romeo, P.E. “We are now a full-service firm with respect to visioning, planning, design and implementation.”

The term “visioning” represents GLA’s service to communities that distinguishes the company from other landscape architecture firms. GLA consultants conceptualize community-driven initiatives that aim to reinvent and redesign shared spaces for pedestrians, automobiles, bicyclists and shoppers. “Our goal is to assist communities in creating a sense of place that will stimulate their local economy,” says Leighton. BETA will use this added capability to identify and launch urban planning initiatives and implement municipal projects that provide sustainable solutions.

Most recently, BETA and GLA have collaborated on projects including Providence Performing Arts Center/Weybosset Street (PPAC Square) roadway and streetscape improvements, the downtown riverwalk in Ipswich, MA, streetscape improvements in Wickford, RI and Windsor, CT as well as other developments in downtown Reading, MA, and Rt. 16 in Wellesley, MA. BETA and GLA’s 20-year relationship provides for a seamless transition of services and staff, and will allow them to better serve their combined client base as a full-service entity.

If you would like to learn more about the GLA Division of BETA and their newly integrated services, visit www.beta-inc.com or www.glala.com.