Karins and Associates acquires Adams-Kemp

(L-R) Dev Sitaram, president of Karins and Associates, poses with Adams-Kemp Associates principal R.B. Kemp, Karins Vice President John Johnson, and Adams-Kemp principal Chuck Adams after signing the deal. | PHOTO COURTESY OF KARINS

GEORGETOWN – Karins and Associates, a Newark-based engineering, surveying, and planning firm, has acquired land planning and surveying firm Adams-Kemp Associates.

Terms of the deal that was announced Nov. 1 were not disclosed. Adams-Kemp, which has an office on South Race Street, had about 10 employees, and about eight have decided to make the transition to Karins, officials said. Karins employs about 56 people, meaning the addition will lead to a roughly 15% expansion in headcount.

Dev Sitaram, president of Karins, told Delaware Business Times this past summer that despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the firm’s projects, they intended to continue to expand.

The acquisition of Adams-Kemp marks a return to Sussex County for Karins, which closed an office in Millsboro after the 2008-09 Great Recession. It currently has an office in Newark as well as Bryn Mawr, Pa.; Exton, Pa.; and Forest Hill, Md.

(L-R) Dev Sitaram, president of Karins and Associates, signs the acquisition deal with Adams-Kemp Associates principals Chuck Adams and R.B. Kemp, as John Johnson, Karins vice president, looks on. | PHOTO COURTESY OF KARINS

Sitaram told DBT that the firm was looking to continue expanding in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the next few years as well.

“There may be some opportunities for us with the downturn, and we are well positioned to make an acquisition,” he said in June, noting a firm’s size, core values and work ethic are the traits Karins reviews closely.

In a statement announcing the latest acquisition, Sitaram remarked on those traits by Adams-Kemp.

“Adams-Kemp has built an exemplary reputation providing services to clients in Sussex County and the surrounding areas over the last 32 years,” he said. “Their culture of providing responsive service and practical solutions is very similar to ours. We welcome and look forward to the integration of their employees onto the Karins’ team.”

Chuck Adams and R.B. Kemp, the principals at the merging firm, will continue to manage surveying services in Georgetown as vice presidents under Karins.

“Karins’ operations and services are so closely aligned with our business that it’s a natural fit,” Kemp said in a statement announcing the sale. “We will continue to provide surveying services and will add 3D laser scanning, aerial photogrammetric surveying, hydrographic surveying, and full-service civil engineering to our offerings.”

By Jacob Owens

jowens@delawarebusinesstimes.com