Rani Engineering is celebrating 20 years of business in the Twin Cities.
Founded by Susan Park Rani in1993 with two employees working on water resources projects, the Minnesota-based company has a staff of over 40. Rani Engineering has since added land surveying and rail signal engineering services to complement its civil engineering group.
When accepting the ACEC/MN award as firm of the year in May, Rani said she knew there had been skeptics about a company that was owned by a woman who was also a minority. “That was then, and this is now,” she told the crowd.
Over the years, the company has been involved in a number of high-profile projects, including the expansion of the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus, development and construction of the Hiawatha and Central Corridor light rail projects, reconstruction of the I-35W bridge, and the Maryland Avenue bridge reconstruction across Interstate 35E. In December of 2012, Rani Engineering established an office in Dickinson, North Dakota.
Rani was selected by Gov. Mark Dayton for two international trade missions: to China in 2012 and to Europe in 2013. She has been a speaker at a number of national events, and in November 2012, she was chosen by the National Association of Women Business Owners-Minnesota (NAWBO-MN) to receive its 2012 Woman Pioneer Award.
The company has received numerous awards since its founding, including:
- 2013: Received ACEC/MN 2012-13 Firm of the Year.
- 2012: Named Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Contractor of the Year for 2012 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
- 2010: Received Minneapolis – Saint Paul Business Journal Award for Minority Advocate.
- 2008: Received Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce Award to Celebrate Business Success.
- 2007: Received ACEC/MN Honor Award for TH-212 Design-Build.
- 2005: Received the Deubener Award from the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. The company was recognized for its business success, for promoting growth, and for handling risk, diversity and innovation in a continuously changing and challenging environment.