President’s Message: What’s in a Name?

As part of our recent company reorganization, we made a deliberate and thoughtful decision to rebrand. Our primary criteria included preserving the legacy of our culture of solving our clients’ infrastructure challenges through underground excellence and eliminating name confusion within the A/E industry. This led to the selection of a new name after having “Jacobs Associates” as part of our name since 1954.

After looking introspectively at our mission and vision, and in talking to some of you, our key clients, and partners, we arrived at a new name, Delve Underground. We believe words matter, and the definition of delve is particularly applicable to who we are, both past and present. Delve is both a noun and a verb, as defined by Merriam-Webster.

Delve (noun):

cave, hollow [tunnel]

Delve (verb):

1: to dig or labor with or as if with a spade

2a: to make a careful or detailed search for information

2b: to examine a subject in detail

The noun definition has obvious relation to the structures for which we design and provide construction consulting. The latter two verb definitions are particularly apt to us, and how we work to solve our clients’ problems and challenges. They support our vision to inspire our employees to create bold, responsive infrastructure solutions.

And for those who are curious, the word origin (i.e., the etymology) traces to the early Old English word delfan, meaning “to dig.” For centuries, there was only delving—no digging—because the word dig didn’t exist until much later; it first appears in early Middle English. So, delve is very “old school” for excavating—say, a tunnel! We like to think of ourselves as old school in the way we approach engineering from first principles, yet forward-thinking, always pushing state of the art in our industry.

While our name reflects our underground engineering legacy, we are very responsive aboveground, too. Our expertise includes delivering transportation infrastructure, rock slope engineering, heavy civil disputes resolution, and pipeline design and construction management. We like engineering challenges. The more complex, the better.

So, what can clients and partners expect of us now? More of what we have provided historically, and some new things. Our emphasis on sustainability is based on our desire to improve human health and environmental health, which are inexorably symbiotic. We are working on new and different projects like recycled water and new energy sources. We continue to branch into new services like hydrogeology and ventilation testing and design. But in all these new things, and in the legacy services we provide, we still have the same core purpose: to help build thriving communities by delivering state-of-the-art, sustainable heavy civil infrastructure.