Episode: Inside Pro Engineering Consulting
Host: (Vision Pros Live) | Guest: Ryan Labus, Business Development Manager, Pro Engineering Consulting
Summary
Ryan Labus breaks down what Pro Engineering Consulting does, why their one-stop, multi-disciplinary model (MEP + Structural) streamlines projects, and how a hands-on, family-owned culture hits deadlines without sacrificing quality. He shares his transition from corporate to a smaller, impact-driven team, why he’s leaning into podcasts and personal brand, what makes Pro unique (coordination, QC, capacity), and two standout projects: a large private airport and a ground-up private school. The episode closes with growth plans—industry orgs, trade shows, speaking, and educational content.
Chapters
Q: What is Pro Engineering Consulting and what services do you offer?
Q: Commercial vs. residential—what’s your mix?
Q: What does a Business Development Manager do at Pro?
Q: Your 2022 vision vs. today—what changed?
Q: Why podcasts—what’s the goal here?
Q: What makes Pro Engineering unique in the field?
Q: Recent/large projects worth calling out?
Q: What do you enjoy most about the role?
Q: Corporate background → family-owned culture: how did it change you?
Q: What’s next for Pro Engineering and how will you grow?
Action Items
- Leverage a one-stop MEP + Structural partner to reduce “too many cooks” coordination risk.
- Prioritize deadline reliability—cost of delay often dwarfs fee differences.
- Show the humans behind the brand (podcasts, LinkedIn, webinars) to win trust in a “boring” category.
- Build BD systems: targeted firm lists, marketing ops, and measurable outreach.
- Scale authority: join industry orgs, speak at niche conferences, publish practical “how-to” posts.
HOST
Tell me more about Pro Engineering Consulting.
RYAN LABUS
So Pro Engineering is a medium sized family owned business that offers a few different engineering services. We work with different architects and contractors on construction projects of all types and sizes. Custom homes, apartment buildings, restaurants and bars, industrial and manufacturing centers. The engineering services we provide are mechanical, electrical, plumbing and structural. So think like the utilities of the building and then the skeleton of the structure of the building itself. So a lot of what we do is sometimes on like the boring side, but it’s also just helping piece everything together in the project to support the architects vision for it.
HOST
Okay. Makes all the sense in the world. Are you, do you all do more commercial than residential?
RYAN LABUS
I’d say mainly commercial but yeah, we do a lot of multifamily and senior living. That kind of falls under commercial but compared to like single family residential. Yeah, we definitely do more commercial.
HOST
All right, and then your role there at Pro Engineering is business development manager, is that correct?
RYAN LABUS
Yes.
HOST
Okay. As a business development manager, what is your part in the business? What do you focus on?
RYAN LABUS
So I wear multiple hats. I, I definitely coordinate a little bit with the project management team. But the main goal here and what I was brought on is to just drive new business and build and maintain new relationships. Like I said, started off as a small family owned business. Been in business since 1985 and there was really no formal sales or marketing team until I came on in 2022. Now I just manage a small team of three. So yeah, I work with project management. I work with alongside ownership at a marketing agency that we’ve also brought on board to just identify and target new prospective architectural firms and then, and then go after them through a number of different methods.
HOST
Yes, yes. And so you’ve been with them since 2022… Tell me about your vision when you took that position and where it is now.
RYAN LABUS
I. It’s been good so far. I’d say, you know, my vision was to really come in and just help out and a small business. I’d been in a little bit more corporatized structure beforehand where I didn’t have as much, you know, you’re micromanaged a little bit more and there’s a little bit more oversight and not that there isn’t checks and balances here, but they were just looking for someone who had industry knowledge as far as kind of just construction and design went. I have a background in in construction, having actually worked in the field for several different contractors and then also a project management position. So I kind of understood the lingo and had the experience there and wanted to kind of sharpen my sales and networking skills. And when I had met with Ramin, who’s the owner of the company, to start talking about the position, I just really liked where he was coming from. Really trustworthy, family oriented guy, someone that you just you want by your side. He’s supportive. So yeah, just I guess was really inspired to just kind of come in and be a. Try to be a bigger fish in a small pond, if that makes sense and just make an impact in the company’s overall performance.
HOST
Absolutely. And so now you are doing podcasting… please share that with the audience.
RYAN LABUS
I guess a number of reasons. I mean, first and foremost, obviously is just awareness. You’d hope that architects or someone who’d be in need of our services might come across this. I think as well as just building your own personal brand and getting your personality out there brings a little bit of personality to the company. Like I said, I kind of joked around earlier and said engineering is kind of boring, but if you can kind of show face and allow your audience to get a chance to feel like they know you a little bit, that’ll definitely help. And then I guess just if there’s any questions that I answer or anything that I say that helps out with someone in a similar position of mine or working for a similar company or a similar industry, maybe they’ll. Maybe they’ll get some insights or get some inspiration.
HOST
…Tell me what makes Pro Engineering unique in the engineering field.
RYAN LABUS
There’s a few things that makes Pro Engineering unique. The fact that we have multiple services in house just makes for better coordination and streamlines everything… there’s lots of parties so to cut down on the amount of kind of cooks in the kitchen, we, we offer multiple services. And so it’s more of a one stop shop when you get to work with us. The other thing is just, yeah, our levels of kind of internal quality control and review… the experience of our principal engineers over 40 years… a really good project management system that allows us to take on a large bandwidth of projects every month and provide pretty reasonable turnaround time without sacrificing quality… the cost of delay… when it comes to being able to just take on the work and take it on immediately and meet deadlines, that’s where we really excel.
HOST
…Recent project?
RYAN LABUS
…working on a private airport. It’s actually going to be the largest privately owned airport in the US once it’s constructed… controls, lighting, ventilation… airplane fuel inside of a hangar… ventilate it a certain way… We’re also working on a private school right now… ground up… pretty interesting to see all the factors… early on…
HOST
Corporate → family-owned: how did it change you?
RYAN LABUS
…you feel like you’re making a direct impact… great to have a direct impact on the performance of Pro Engineering… being almost solely responsible for driving new business… that’s what keeps everyone else on the team employed… keeps them able to feed their families… what keeps me going… Ramin is extremely hands on… you can call Ramin directly and you’ll have our principal electrical engineer and CEO on the line… he’ll drop what he’s doing and jump on it right away.
HOST
MEP—quick define?
RYAN LABUS
MEP means mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Mechanical is basically the HVAC… electrical power to the building… plumbing is pretty self explanatory… lots of coordination to fit wiring and pipes through a space… conceal them… maintain aesthetics… ensure comfort.
HOST
What’s next—how will you grow?
RYAN LABUS
…professional organizations… mentorship… trade shows… keynote/speaking… educational content—LinkedIn posts, tips and tricks, webinars… get engineers on to go more technical…
HOST
Thank you for being here today… Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.
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