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.
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
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.
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
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).
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.
1986
ARA Employees: 83
ARA establishes the Rocky Mountain Division in Colorado.
1987
ARA Employees: 94
The Gulf Coast Division is established
1987
ARA Employees: 94
ARA’s corporate offices separate from the Southwest Division to improve service to all divisions.
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
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
ARA Employee-Owners: 228
The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is created as a mechanism for transferring ARA ownership and preserving ARA identity.
1997
ARA Employee-Owners: 360
The Emerald Coast Office is upgraded to a Division.
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.
2000
ARA Employee-Owners: 510
The number of ARA employees tops 500 – ARA is no longer a “small business”.
2005
ARA Employee-Owners: 1106
ARA acquires Klein Associates, Inc., the firm that pioneered the study of high-level, real-world decision-making.
2008
ARA Employee-Owners: 1205
Sector 5 Special Projects establishes the Crystal City Operations (CCO) office in Arlington, VA.
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.
2013
ARA Employee-Owners: 1142
The SEAS HEMR Special Projects Group graduates to division status and becomes the Arlington Division.
2013
ARA Employee-Owners: 1142
The Analytical Solutions Division is stood up as the combination of the CCO and North Chesapeake Offices.
2015
ARA Employee-Owners: 1100
ARA acquired Engility Tech Reachback Contract, which becomes a group under the Capital Area Division.
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.
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.
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).
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.
2019
ARA Employee-Owners: 1320
ARA Acquires Weston Geophysical Corporation, a preeminent nuclear test monitoring firm.
2020
ARA Employee-Owners: 1400
ARA Acquires the Consulting Division of Dynatest North America, a leader in pavement engineering services.
2020
ARA Employee-Owners: 1400
ARA Acquires Signature Management Group of Enterprise Ventures Corporation.
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.
