OUR COMPANY
WE HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR ASSETS AGAINST AN EVER-CHANGING COASTLINE
The shoreline is a continually changing, dynamic environment shaped by wind, waves, and currents. The RACE Coastal Engineering team leverages in-depth knowledge of our unique coastline to provide resilient, cost effective, environmentally savvy end-to-end solutions that protect against the elements of nature.
WE'RE COMMITTED TO YOUR SUCCESS
The RACE Coastal Engineering team is focused on enabling our clients to achieve their goals with exemplary performance in all project phases, from planning through permitting, design, and construction with our dedicated, in-house staff. While no two projects are exactly the same, RACE draws upon our extensive resume of past experiences - thousands of projects in the last 26 years - to provide the most efficient, effective and innovative designs while meeting high standards of quality and care for our clients.
OUR HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, 26 YEARS AGO
John Roberge founded the precursor of RACE Coastal Engineering in 1999 to provide responsive, quality coastal engineering services to clients while maintaining the highest standards of excellence and integrity. His specialty consulting services were provided from the original office in Guilford, CT and focused on clients throughout the New England shoreline region.
The early 2000’s saw steady growth, enhanced with the addition of Devin and Beth Santa in 2001 to the professional staff. During this time, the team of John, Devin, and Beth worked together on a wide range of waterfront projects and established a hydrographic surveying company to support their operations.
RACE PARTNERSHIP EXPANDS
Roberge Associates Coastal Engineers was formalized in 2004 as a partnership between Roberge and Santa and the office was moved to Stratford, CT. The firm had been increasingly referred to by the acronym “RACE” and, in 2016, the Company embraced its nickname and renamed the firm RACE Coastal Engineering.
Azure Dee Sleicher, Vice President of Coastal Engineering and Partner, joined the team in 2016 bringing her extensive experience in analyzing, designing and permitting coastal erosion protection and living shoreline projects. Ms. Sleicher is also well-versed in the determination of coastal flood hazard areas in accordance with FEMA’s Guidelines and Specifications.
With significant experience leading numerous waterfront projects along with achieving advanced coastal engineering certifications, Project Managers Matt Rakowski and Steve Sternberg were elected Partners in 2022 and promoted to the Leadership Team. Both Matt and Steve are dedicated professionals with a strong history of successful collaboration with their clients, vendors and colleagues.
RACE'ING TO THE FUTURE
In the firm’s first decade, RACE’s coastal engineering, hydrographic surveying, and marine structure design business grew and its reputation as a regional industry leader was firmly established. Projects throughout this time were focused on marinas, yacht clubs, and private waterfront properties.
Since that time our scope of services increased and we expanded our client base to include municipalities, port facilities, and large scale waterfront developers. We are proud to have been the recipient of many awards for our innovative designs.
Today the Professional Team is comprised of experts in coastal, structural, civil, and geotechnical engineering, as well as hydrographic surveying, construction administration services, and marina design. With this skilled team, RACE takes a multi-disciplinary holistic approach to analyzing and solving coastal issues and remains committed to providing exemplary engineering solutions with honesty and integrity to the coastal community reflecting the core values on which the firm was founded.
Moving into our next quarter century of company history, RACE will continue to partner with stakeholders across a wide variety of scale, location, and facility type, to plan, design, and execute sustainable and resilient shoreline infrastructure. Within this wide variety of project and client types is a singular common denominator...the coastline. RACE will remain focused on this unique and complex environment to best serve our Clients now and into the future.
OUR CULTURE
At RACE, our commitment to our work and to our team is something we take pride in. When people ask "what gets you out of bed in the morning?" the answer is clear for us: we love what we do. We get to work to help make the shorelines in our communities a better place to do business, to raise a family, and to have fun. Who else gets to say that? Our engineering firm is the catalyst that allows us to be near our coastlines every day. Our culture is driven by our passion for our work and by our mission, vision, and values. Our adherence to these guiding principles and our commitment to be a strong team helps us do great work that we are proud and fortunate to do.
OUR VISION
To be the preeminent waterfront engineering firm in the Northeast by integrating coastal, structural, and geotechnical engineering while living the RACE Values and pursuing the RACE mission.
OUR CORE VALUES
Honesty & integrity
Our promise to our employees, clients, and the community is to always act with integrity and respect for the coastal environment.
Pursuit of excellence
We draw upon our extensive resume of projects to heed-lessons learned and continually enhance our skills and capabilities in order to provide the most efficient, effective and innovative designs while meeting high standards of quality and care for our clients.
Synergy through teamwork
We approach each project with our clients as a chance to work as a team - always collaborating to achieve the project's goals.
Disciplined approach
We approach every project - no matter the size - with the same proactive planning and quality assurance necessary for successful solutions
Respect family & community
We are committed to learning and exploring better ways to serve our community as we grow as professionals and citizens.
Come join our team if you're passionate about waterfront engineering. That's what gets us up in the morning and we love what we do.