Benchmark Group Launching Updated Branding, Website

Paul Parks has never been comfortable plugging his company’s achievements.

To wit, the founder and president of Benchmark Group of Rogers had never even authorized putting a promotional sign at the construction site of a project the company was working on, a fairly traditional industry practice.

That was until this year, when the company placed its own sign at the site of the new Walmart Neighborhood Market at the Eighth and Walnut street intersection in Rogers. Benchmark, one of the state’s largest architecture and engineering providers, was the project engineer on the new store.

It was a subtle yet meaningful act for Parks, and also part of a larger company emphasis to become a more visible part of the community.

To that end, Benchmark will launch an updated website and company branding in October. The new web address will be www.teamofchoice.com.

“We had been pretty quiet deliberately in the past and not making noise about ourselves,” Parks said. “We finally reached the point where this is the right thing to do. We’ve always been careful about [focusing on] quality and serving our clients. Now we’re just letting more people know about it.”

Parks started Benchmark Group — solely as an electrical engineering firm called Paul C. Parks Engineering — in 1978, working from his house. He and his wife, Janet, were the employees. It was renamed in 1987 to reflect an expanded range of services, from architectural design to mechanical and electrical engineering services. The firm also now offers interior design, fire protection and refrigeration engineering.

Scott Ward, the firm’s vice president of production, said Benchmark has hired about 35 people this year and now employs approximately 125 from its 120,000-SF headquarters at 1805 N. Second St. An additional 20 staff members will likely be hired by the end of the year, and the company is exploring the possibility of opening its first satellite office, possibly in Dallas.

“We are a national firm in our project load, and we want to act like a national firm and look at where our clients are and how best we can serve them,” Ward said.