This article originally appeared in the Boston Business Journal – February 25, 2005 and was by Sean McFadden, Journal Staff.
When you’re in the business of wastewater management, Gary Broberg has discovered, the competition is often as dirty as the work itself.
A year ago, Broberg, CEO of Practical Applications Inc., a Boston-based engineering consulting firm that builds treatment systems and specialty products for industrial wastewater, was one of several firms invited to bid for the design and construction of a so-called BSL-3 Steam Kill System for the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh.
Broberg knew that the assignment, valued at $675,000 over a six- month period — one of nine such facilities being constructed across the country — could be a huge boon for his business.
While he had the requisite experience — Broberg had previously worked on about six other biocontainment projects — his rivals were national companies with much larger presences than his 12-person firm.