Where we are today is largely due to our proud history. There are fewer than 10 Native American-owned civil engineering firms in the U.S, we are certified as a Minority Business Enterprise by the City of Toledo and Ohio Turnpike Commission. We’ve been Native American-owned since 1967. Although our firm was started in 1887, we have had just four owners.
Joseph Hoffman founded the firm, then called Toledo Surveyors, in 1887 in Frankfurt, Ohio. He moved it to Northwest Ohio in 1895 and ran it until 1931, when Porter W. McDonnell took over. McDonnell re-named the firm McDonnell & Associates and ran it until he died in 1967. His wife asked Paul Proudfoot, who had worked for him in the 1950s but was working for ODOT at the time, if he wanted to buy the firm, and, of course, Paul said yes.
When ownership transferred to him in 1967, Paul re-named the firm McDonnell Proudfoot Associates, dropping “McDonnell” in 1994. The firm has been Native American-owned since 1967. Paul Proudfoot II took over the firm in 2010 after his father died.
We chose to feature the buffalo on our logo because it is iconic in Native American culture. Tribes would follow the buffalo and settle wherever the herds took them. The buffalo provided food and warmth to Native Americans, who, out of respect, were very careful to use every part of the animal. Featuring the buffalo on our logo conveys a respect we have for our Native American heritage.