Growing family traditions, one pine tree at a time
Family owned, family churred
May 5, 2025
GREEN BAY – If Ayres Associates – headquartered in Eau Claire – feels like a household name in Northeast Wisconsin, it’s because the firm’s Green Bay branch has earned familiarity over its 50 years of regional projects.
Alternately, if Ayres is somewhat anonymous, Troy Robillard – manager of transportation services for the Green Bay office – said area residents have certainly benefited from the company’s work, which has included:
- Construction observation services for the US-41/State Highway-29 interchange, the Little Lake Butte Des Morts bridge rehabilitation and the Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge rehabilitation
- Survey services for upgrades to US-41 in Brown County
- Designing the STH-29 and County Highway-VV interchange
“We have a wide variety of civil engineering services here in Green Bay,” Robillard said. “Transportation is what I do, so I do a lot of work for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and counties. We do a lot for municipalities: City of Green Bay, City of Appleton, all cities, villages, towns.”
Beyond transportation, Robillard said Ayres works with dams, other water-related projects and environmental projects, such as brownfield site testing.
“What the emphasis has been, and what facilitated (Ayres’) growth, too, is we try and get multiple services in our larger offices like the Green Bay office,” he said. “(In Green Bay), maybe pre-2007, we were mostly (focused on) transportation. But since then, we’ve brought in all those other services, especially engineering services. Our survey (service) has really expanded, (as have our) water resources and environmental (services).”
Ayres’ strategy, Robillard said, has been to ably offer multiple services to help serve multiple client needs in the area.
“A lot of times, clients want to work with (companies) that are close by, so they can be reactive,” he said. “The Green Bay office has been built with that in mind, so we can serve multiple, multiple needs for each client and in Northeast and North Central Wisconsin.”
Growth in Green Bay
According to ayresassociates.com, the company that would become Ayres Associates was founded by Owen Ayres, a decorated WWII pilot, in Eau Claire in 1959.
Then, in 1975, Robillard said the company acquired an engineering firm in Green Bay, establishing what’s become Ayres’ second-oldest location.
Over the ensuing decades, he said the Green Bay contingent consistently expanded because of its diversification strategy, as it intentionally sought a mix of state and local clients.
Robillard, a 26-year Ayres employee, said the location’s staff has grown from a team of 29 in 2017 to 58 presently.
For perspective, he said Ayres Associates has a total of 394 employees across its 12 locations operating in seven states.
“(The growth) has been a big thing that’s been exciting for us,” he said. “We were busting at the seams in our office previous to this year, so in April of 2024, we moved to where we currently are (at 700 Pilgrim Way).”
Robillard said multiple factors have enabled Ayres to successfully staff the Green Bay office, including a beneficial diversity of experience.
“We’ve incorporated a lot of youth, and we also have a lot of senior leadership to mentor that staff,” he said.
Robillard said it’s common for Ayres’ interns to return as full-time employees after graduation.
More broadly, he said working as part of a national operation provides a range of expertise.
“We have a smaller family feel to the office, yet we’re part of a bigger company that brings multiple resources (together), and we can draw upon those multiple resources throughout the company,” he said. “We have Ph.D.s in water resources in our Colorado office that, if we have a complexity that takes some more experience than we have here, we have that background that we can pull from around the company.”
Robillard said the “tight-knit group” in Green Bay eschews remote work in favor of in-person synergy.
He also said the team regularly engages in community involvement activities, including a current drive for local food bank Paul’s Pantry, as well as a bit of fun on the side.
“We do a lot of celebrating with staff outside of work, where you can really get to know each other more on a personal level,” he said.
Relationship-building, Robillard said – internally and externally – is of primary importance to Ayres.
“What we’ve always said is (key to our success) is the three Rs: relationships, relationships and relationships,” he said.
Not only is he one of many team members tenured more than 20 years at Ayres, Robillard said many of the company’s clients have been long-time collaborators as well.
“(Between) our relationships with the county, with the Department of Transportation, cities, villages (and) towns – we get an extensive amount of repeat work,” he said. “We’ve had good leadership in the Green Bay office… We’re not chasing projects. We’re facilitating the needs of our clients and working collaboratively with those clients on their needs.”
Another aspect of Ayres’ allure, Robillard said, is simply the grand scope of the work.
“It’s exciting, some of the projects we’re collaborating on with (clients),” he said. “(There are) some really neat and challenging projects here in the area.”
Ayres hereafter
Robillard said one of the projects that has his team excited is the forthcoming, long-awaited Fox River-spanning bridge in De Pere.
“It’s finally happening,” he laughed. “It’s been talked about for a very long time. And now we’re actually seeing it – we’re involved in the design. That’s what we love, is now (we are) collaborating with Brown County to see this come to fruition.”
For all of its projects, Robillard said Ayres employs every cutting-edge tool at its disposal, which increasingly includes drones and AI.
“We’re trying to utilize technology as much as we can, to be more cost efficient on projects,” he said.
Drones are particularly useful for surveying and data collection, Robillard said, while AI’s applications – beyond using it to create presentations, conduct alternative analyses and gather data – are still being explored.
“We’re always going to need the human judgment (and) the engineering judgment, as not every project is cookie-cutter,” he said. “There are a lot of specifics that need to be taken into account (in production plans). There’s a lot of collaboration that needs to be taken into account from our clients’ perspective. So, I don’t think AI is ever going to replace what we do, but I think using it as a supportive tool is important.”
While the office celebrates 50 years of operation and the company continues to explore new technologies, Robillard said Ayres’ work will always be focused on relationships.
“It’s definitely been (about) the people – the supportive team (and) the collaboration with clients, working on engaging work,” he said. “I think that’s what makes Ayres Associates a special place.”
