ARA History

Founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1979, ARA has grown steadily and now has offices throughout the United States and Canada. Today, ARA is an internationally recognized employee-owned research and engineering firm. We provide superior technical services and products to our customers, meeting significant national challenges by creatively applying technology to solve critical problems. The corporate culture remains strongly rooted in our history and purpose, with an outstanding commitment to quality, employee empowerment, and the inherent strengths of flexibility in a changing environment.

1979

ARA Employees: 7

Harry Auld and Neil Higgins form Higgins, Auld & Associates, the predecessor to ARA.

1979

1980

ARA Employees: 13

Jimmie Bratton joins the company. Soon after, the name is changed from Higgins, Auld and Bratton Inc. to Applied Research Associates.

1980

1980

ARA Employees: 13

ARA establishes its first out-of-Albuquerque office by acquiring the South Royalton, VT, office. The office was the foundation for the New England Division.

1980

1982

ARA Employees: 33

ARA initiates the Southeast Division in Raleigh, NC. A major effort there was determining blast effects on trees for the Army Ballistic Research Laboratory.

1982

1982

ARA Employees: 33

The Capital Area Division is established in Alexandria, VA, to provide on-site service to the Defense Nuclear Agency (now the Defense Threat Reduction Agency).

1982

1983

ARA Employees: 49

The Southern Division is started in Vicksburg, MS. The office served the Defense Nuclear Agency and the Army Waterways Experiment Station.

1983

1986

ARA Employees: 83

ARA establishes the Rocky Mountain Division in Colorado.

1986

1987

ARA Employees: 94

The Gulf Coast Division is established

1987

1987

ARA Employees: 94

ARA’s corporate offices separate from the Southwest Division to improve service to all divisions.

1987

1993

ARA Employees: 228

Vertek, ARA’s manufacturing arm, is started at the New England Division. A major part of their business is the manufacture of CPT trucks. Vertek is now a division.

1993

1993

ARA Employees: 228

ARA is awarded the Defense Nuclear Agency’s Test Operations Technology and Test Support (TOTTS) contract. The Shock Physics Division is created to support the contract.

1993

1993

ARA Employee-Owners: 228

The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is created as a mechanism for transferring ARA ownership and preserving ARA identity.

1993

1997

ARA Employee-Owners: 360

The Emerald Coast Office is upgraded to a Division.

1997

1999

ARA Employee-Owners: 477

ARA acquires ERES Consultants and becomes the ERES Consultants Division. The merger made ARA the largest highway and airport pavement research and consulting company in the U.S. at the time.

1999

2000

ARA Employee-Owners: 510

The number of ARA employees tops 500 – ARA is no longer a “small business”.

2000

2005

ARA Employee-Owners: 1106

ARA acquires Klein Associates, Inc., the firm that pioneered the study of high-level, real-world decision-making.

2005

2008

ARA Employee-Owners: 1205

Sector 5 Special Projects establishes the Crystal City Operations (CCO) office in Arlington, VA.

2008

2009

ARA Employee-Owners: 1432

ARA acquires Virtual Heroes, which becomes a division. Virtual Heroes creates immersive, 3D interactive learning solutions and high-fidelity synthetic virtual environments.

2009

2013

ARA Employee-Owners: 1142

The SEAS HEMR Special Projects Group graduates to division status and becomes the Arlington Division.

2013

2013

ARA Employee-Owners: 1142

The Analytical Solutions Division is stood up as the combination of the CCO and North Chesapeake Offices.

2013

2015

ARA Employee-Owners: 1100

ARA acquired Engility Tech Reachback Contract, which becomes a group under the Capital Area Division.

2015

2015

ARA Employee-Owners: 1100

ARA Holdings, Inc., an S-Corp, was incorporated and ARA became a wholly-owned subsidiary under that entity. ARA completed its conversion from a C-Corp to an S-Corp on October 1, 2015.

2015

2017

ARA Employee-Owners: 1189

ARA acquires Neya Systems LLC, known for their development of unmanned systems for defense, homeland security, and commercial users. Neya Systems becomes a division.

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2017

2017

ARA Employee-Owners: 1189

ARA acquires BerrieHill Research Corporation, a leading provider of Electromagnetic Modeling/Simulation, Design, Analysis and Fabrication for the Air Force and Intelligence Agencies. BerrieHill Research becomes a division (now called the Applied Electromagnetics Division).

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2017

2018

ARA Employee-Owners: 1271

ARA Selected as Contractor for the Operation of Ohmsett, the National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility.

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2018

2019

ARA Employee-Owners: 1320

ARA Acquires Weston Geophysical Corporation, a preeminent nuclear test monitoring firm.

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2019

2020

ARA Employee-Owners: 1400

ARA Acquires the Consulting Division of Dynatest North America, a leader in pavement engineering services.

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2020

2020

ARA Employee-Owners: 1400

ARA Acquires Signature Management Group of Enterprise Ventures Corporation.

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2020

Today

ARA Employee-Owners: 2,200 and counting

ARA Continues to Offer Innovative Technologies and Solutions to Problems to Improve Our Safety, Security, and Way of Life.

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Today