SIA Solutions ranked #1 company at 2019 Aggie 100

SIA Solutions has been ranked as the #1 Aggie 100 Company for 2019 with an astonishing growth rate of 284.88%. At the helm, Dr. Srini Neralla, CEO of SIA Solutions, LLC, leads the company with an entrepreneurial attitude that seamlessly incorporates his academic background. His innovative and solution-oriented mindset lends itself to an uncanny ability to poignantly serve clients in a way that benefits their local community and the surrounding environment.

Dr. Neralla credits the growth of the company to their client-first attitude which serves as the foundation for SIA Solutions’ company culture. “Our culture is based around a client-first attitude,” he said, “if we can take care of our clients and we can take care of our people there’s nothing better than that.”  Dr. Neralla believes that SIA Solutions is able to successfully deploy a client-first culture because “[We] focus on understanding the needs and challenges of our clients and providing them solutions as appropriate.  We help them navigate through the maze of technical, regulatory and funding challenges, which makes our clients successful and hence we are successful.”  SIA Solutions believes in building strong and trusting relationships with their clients. In fact, approximately 95% of their clientele are repeat customers. “Our philosophy is establishing ourselves as a trusted advisor to our clients. That is the key to our success.”

Although SIA Solutions is a small-sized business they aren’t afraid to take on challenges that many firms their size may shy away from. “Because of our client-first philosophy, we’re willing to take on tough challenges and deliver. It’s in our culture. It’s natural to us. We put together strong teams comprising of firms our size or larger, including universities, in order to deliver what our clients want,” said Dr. Neralla. SIA Solutions is constantly pushing boundaries, including their own core business lines. One such example is a project that SIA Solutions is working on right now for the US Army Corps of Engineers. The project’s mission is to support and protect the mainline levees across the Mississippi River in order to keep excess material out of the channel and maintain a favorable channel alignment and depth. “This is currently done through the use of a Mat Sinking Unit (MSU) which, due to its age, requires significant upgrades to its infrastructure and health and safety of its operations,” said Dr. Neralla. SIA Solutions was selected to develop and field a full-scale prototype system that employs modern technologies to automate the processes of handling, assembling, and placing articulated concrete mat on the banks of the Mississippi River.  The system is purposefully designed to utilize robotics to help ensure the safety of the USACE employees and/or contractors implementing the program.  This modernized system will also help to reduce the time it takes to place the mats and increase the operation’s cost efficiency. SIA quickly recognized the unique opportunity for the company to take on one of their client’s biggest and most challenging projects in a way that has never been done before. “We put a team together that included Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) to develop a process that includes robotics that will allow this project to be automated. We are willing to take on challenges and we’re willing to deliver.”  SIA’s willingness to think and work outside the box paid off and they were recently awarded the next project phase during which they’ll build the actual robotics system on a barge and begin placing the mats.

A large part of SIA Solutions’ portfolio includes their infrastructure asset management services where they deploy sophisticated strategies and processes to help solve complex asset management challenges for government and industry clients. Many times, this requires innovative solutions to existing assets such as underutilized property or facilities that are beyond their useful life. Dr. Neralla recalled one project where a Department of Defense (DoD) base had invested in a state-of-the-art water/wastewater treatment plant, but a few years later the base was downsized due to BRAC actions. Although DoD didn’t need the full capacity of the plant moving forward, the plant still had a high market value. The surrounding local communities needed additional water treatment capacity because of their own population growth. “We were able to assess the value of the plant and basically marry the local communities’ needs with the excess capacity of the DoD plant. This is a “win-win” situation for everybody, by providing a solution and reducing costs for both government agencies through the transfer of the asset! At the end of the day, anything we do has an impact on the community and an impact on the environment. Whether it is disposing of radiological waste properly or providing increased energy efficiency within a community around a military base.” SIA Solutions is a multi-faceted company that is able to identify innovative opportunities regardless of the project size or scope.

Dr. Neralla says that a key component in providing clients with unparalleled service and solutions is building the right team at SIA. He humbly expressed the integral role his staff has had in the growth of SIA Solutions. “You need to hire the right kind of people with the right mindset and right mentality,” said Dr. Neralla “You need a good staff that believes in your culture and believes in your vision. We could not have been as successful without the wonderful staff that we have at SIA.  Our clients have given us the opportunity to do what we do best and helped us in our growth and success”. “If you can develop solutions to address client needs in an efficient manner, that helps the community and helps the environment then it’s a win on all fronts,” said Dr. Neralla.  SIA Solutions has also developed a robust teaming network that allows them to leverage the resources of partner corporations. “There are a few small and large businesses that we team with that have helped us in our delivery to our clients. Such mutually beneficial relationships are possible due to a similarity in culture and values.”

Dr. Neralla stressed that entrepreneurs need to surround themselves with a supportive network, “hire quality staff that believes in your company culture, values and vision; surround yourself with a network of individuals and resources to guide the success of your company.” He believes that patience, persistence, and perseverance are key elements for success, and he has even woven these characteristics into the culture of SIA Solutions. He also noted that his success, and the success of SIA Solutions, would not be possible without the continuous support of his wife and family. Dr. Neralla is a truly inspiring Aggie entrepreneur and it comes as no surprise that his leadership and hard work have led SIA Solutions to new heights of success. Congratulations to Dr. Neralla and the team at SIA Solutions for being awarded the 2019 Aggie 100 #1 ranking.