Melinda Parrish Brumfield left a comfortable career in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry to start a career in commercial title insurance, seeking more work flexibility to spend time with her family.
“Because of this career shift, it has given me a relationship base with real estate attorneys, developers and owners that has helped catapult my AEC career to another level,” she said. “It also helped me better understand the transaction side of real estate, again arming me with knowledge to better understand our clients and the process of developing deals that we now design and engineer. It was a huge risk that ended up helping me move further in the AEC industry.”
Today, Brumfield serves as principal and chief strategy officer for Bennett & Pless, a specialty structural engineering firm founded in 1964 in Atlanta. “Over the past 55 years, the firm has developed a reputation for being an industry leader in the niche markets we have chosen to practice rather than evolving into a traditional generalist structural engineering firm,” the company said. “We attract highly experienced engineers with specialized skills and the ability to execute complex and challenging engineering projects. The firm has multiple offices in the Southeast, providing specialty services across the country and internationally. Bennett & Pless’ sister company, BPL Enclosure Engineering, provides enclosure and ETFE engineering throughout the U.S. and Western Europe.”
At Bennett & Pless, Brumfield manages the company’s business development and marketing teams and assists with growth into new markets via strategic hiring or acquisitions. She continues to collaborate with the executive team on mergers and acquisitions in the Southeast and Southwest. In the last year, she helped grow the company’s business 25% by adding 33 additional staff.
Brumfield led a team that raised $20,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through Bennett & Pless’ internal programs and a golf tournament. She also helped raise money for the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, an organization that provides funding, resources and support to low-income women by hosting a CREW Dine Around at her restaurant. Brumfield has volunteered for more than 20 years with the Northside Athletic Foundation at events that help raise funds for underprivileged children who cannot afford to pay for community sports.
Brumfield introduced the Bennett & Pless Ladies Luncheon in 2022 for women in the AEC industry. The event allows women to interact with other successful women in the industry and grow their network of colleagues while making new friends. Brumfield is involved in the 7×24 WIMCO Chapter, which helps train and elevate women in the data center environment. She continues to support the CREW Atlanta Chapter through sponsorship and being a CREW New Member Ambassador, mentoring two new members each year.
