Patti Engineering goes from 25 to 33 people in 2 years

The partnership behind Patti Engineering is a little stronger than the average business partnership.Husband-and-wife team Patti and Sam Hoff started the Auburn Hills-based firm in 1991 after Sam left his job and had trouble finding another. One college didn’t have room for Sam on its staff, but offered to use his services if he started his own company.Almost 20 years later, Sam serves as the president of the firm and Patti as the vice president of finance. They oversee a staff of 33 people, a couple of independent contractors and four co-op students (think interns who are paid). That’s up from 25 people two years ago.In that same time, Patti Engineering has diversified its client list from a mainly automotive base to the waste water, energy, food and distribution industries. “I think we’re looking fairly good for 2009,” Sam says.In this economy, the company is holding its own for this year and the beginning of next. He expects the economy to come back strong late in 2010 and his company to have a few more employees by then.Source: Sam Hoff, president of Patti EngineeringWriter: Jon Zemke