Ruth & Going, Charles W. Davidson Co. employees join HMH

Silicon Valley engineering firms’ merger brings together decades of history

By SAL PIZARRO | spizarro@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: February 17, 2021 at 2:23 p.m. | UPDATED: February 17, 2021 at 2:26 p.m.

San Jose’s HMH Engineers was founded in 1976, but now the firm is going to be the steward of legacies that stretch back decades further.

Gerry de Young and Michael Sheehy, the principals at Ruth & Going, had been in discussions for the past year with HMH about its employees and clients coming over to them. The Santa Clara engineering company opened in 1949 and in recent decades worked on numerous residential subdivisions and retail centers including Almaden Ranch and Coleman Landings, as well as being the civil engineering firm responsible for transforming the former IBM location on Cottle Road from a 1950s campus to Western Digital’s world headquarters today.

And just as an agreement was being hammered out, Charles W. Davidson Co. Vice President Peter Smith told the HMH crew — led by David Wilson and six partners — that his company’s legendary founder had decided to close the doors of the firm, which was founded in 1960 and had recently provided work for some of the high-rises sprouting in San Jose including One South Market.

Smith, who has more than 30 years of experience in the business, joined HMH as a land development manager. De Young and Sheehy, who started at Ruth & Going in 1973 and 1979, respectively, also will be land development managers at HMH, where their former Ruth & Going employees also started this week.

While it’s unfortunate to lose two key companies very entwined in the growth of San Jose and Silicon Valley, their names will be around as long as their buildings stand. And it sounds like HMH — which has worked on Westfield Valley Fair’s expansion and Google’s Downtown West project in San Jose — will keep their legacies alive as it adds to its own.

Letter From the President

A United Community of Support & Commitment

As everyone continues to monitor the news, our daily routine and our lives have all been impacted. While doing our best to navigate the new and temporary normal, COVID-19 continues to impact all of us – the way we live, work, and interact with each other. The shelter-in-place mandate has required patience, flexibility, and resourcefulness from every individual. Despite these necessary adjustments, one thing that hasn’t changed is our united support of each other and our clients, and our commitment to our community.

Our community presents itself with multiple layers, with each layer having a direct impact on our everyday lives. Those communities include our families (family is always first), our HMH team, our clients, our industry partners and agency staff, and our own neighborhoods and cities. Each community impacts the other and each one creates a sense of belonging and connection. The support shown by our team has been truly inspiring.  We are providing the connectivity and the commitment to continue to provide support for each other and our communities during these challenging times.

When the shelter-in-place was initiated, our IT team did a phenomenal job getting everyone’s remote workstations up and running in less than 24 hours. Our managers and leadership team worked together to establish immediate communication protocols and methods of team support. As with anything, practice makes you better and we are continuing to explore new processes and refine our methods of communication while meeting project delivery requirements and making sure that our staff is supported. It is a team effort and every individual’s efforts keep us moving forward.

During this pandemic, we have maintained communications with our Clients and continue to move our projects forward. We are also continuing to provide field surveying services for qualified projects with our field crews working in accordance with the requirements of the County Orders, meeting the standards set by the County Health Officers. Our Human Resources team has been staying up to date on the latest employee benefit information available and is supporting our staff. Our accounting team has implemented online payment methods with our clients and a paperless, green payroll system for our employees. Our marketing team continues to work closely with the leadership team on company-wide communication both externally and internally.

From my perspective as a son with a 93 year-old mother, a father with two daughters in college, a husband with a supportive wife, a resident of Pleasanton, and the president of HMH, I have seen the firsthand outreach and support from every layer of our community, coming together to create open lines of communication, create connections, and create solutions. As we continue to navigate these times, I know we will learn how important our community is and the importance of supporting each other.

Despite the change in our working environment, we continue to move our projects forward, collaborating and meeting deadlines and still making agency submittals. We remain committed to providing a collaborative and comprehensive approach for our clients. We remain committed to providing our staff with the support to ensure they are safe and provided with the necessary tools to maintain the team environment to support both business and family.  We are committed to our community.

Let’s all make it a priority to take care of ourselves and our communities while staying safe and healthy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your project manager or principal-in-charge if you have any questions or concerns.

David Wilson, PE
HMH President and CFO


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