History

History of the Firm

1985-1997

After approximately 20 years of service with the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Engineering Department, Clyde P. Dunlap and Kenneth K. Bumpas formed Dunlap-Bumpas Associates (DBA) in 1985.

The decision to form DBA was based not only on the need for engineering services for the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, but also for the various county Co-op stores across the state of Tennessee. In 1982, the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative dissolved the Engineering Department, which until this time had provided all engineenng services for the county facilities. Mr. Dunlap and Mr. Bumpas had served in the Engineering Department for 20 years. Since Mr. Dunlap and Mr. Bumpas were the two main contacts and designers for both the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative and the county facilities, county managers continued calling the two after 1982 as the need for engineering services arose.

In 1985, the two decided to become partners and form DBA to provide engineering services for the Farmers Cooperative system statewide. The first office of DBA was located in Lebanon, TN, where they shared office space with W. R. Newman General Contractors. With their affiliation with W. R. Newman, the client base began to grow and expand beyond the Farmers Cooperative system. DBA began providing services for industrial and warehouse facilities in the Lebanon area. During the next few years, the client base continued to grow to include childcare, religious, and elderly care facilities. In 1989, the decision to move the office to Smyrna, TN was made. The growing client base in Rutherford County and the need to be located near the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative's main office in LaVergne, TN necessitated this move. From 1989 to 1997 the client base continued to grow and now included municipal, educational, and retail facilities.

1997-1999

In 1996, Mr. Dunlap and Mr. Bumpas decided it was time for them to retire; therefore, they had to either dissolve or sell the company. Griggs & Maloney, a Civil and Environmental Engineering firm in Murfreesboro, TN, made the decision to acquire DBA effective January 1, 1997. Mr. Dunlap retired at the end of 1996, and Mr. Bumpas agreed to remain with the firm. Mr. Bumpas retired officially at the end of 1998. However, he remains with the company working nearly full time as the need for his service arises.

In 1997 and 1998 Dunlap Bumpas added an Architect and Engineer to its staff. With the addition of the new personnel, DBA continued to offer design and engineering services to the Farmers Cooperative system as well as childcare, municipal, religious, elderly care, retail, and industrial facilities.

1999-Present

Effective March 1, 1999, the company was purchased from Griggs & Maloney, Inc., by D. Wayne Oakley and J. Barry Whitehead. Mr. Oakley and Mr. Whitehead are co-owners and partners in Dunlap-Bumpas Associates, LLC. The company continues to practice architecture and engineering consultation and design and to add new clients. Clients added to the DBA client list since Mr. Oakley and Mr. Whitehead assumed ownership include the Town of Smyrna (Fire Station 5), Hoover Paint Company, Christiana Presbyterian Church, as well as many others.

As of January 1, 2001, the name of the company was changed to Whitehead+Oakley+Dunlap+Bumpas, LLC, to reflect the recent ownership change. However, our philosophy remains the same: to offer the highest quality architectural and engineering design and consultation services possible to our clients.