Mason & Hanger appoints Ben Lilly as its new president

The Virginia- and Kentucky-based AE firm Mason & Hanger has promoted Benjamin A. Lilly, PE, a 23-year company veteran, to the position of President.

Lilly, 46, replaces Mike Matthews, whom the company named President in July 2016 after it had acquired the AE firm Hankins & Anderson, which Matthews had helmed for 18 years.

Prior to assuming his new role, Lilly was Mason & Hanger’s Vice President of International Federal Programs. He has traveled to over 31 countries, and has managed AE services for international construction projects with a combined value of more than $4 billion.

Mason & Hanger is a Day & Zimmermann company whose origins date back to 1827. It is one of the industry’s oldest architectural and engineering services firms, and has worked on projects in 48 U.S. states and 163 countries.

Currently, international work represents a bit more than half of Mason & Hanger’s total portfolio. But Lilly tells BD+C that the firm will continue to invest “in all of our services and consider them to be equally essential” to the company’s growth and mission.

The firm has three offices spanning Lexington, Ky., and two in Virginia (Glen Allen and Hampton Roads), supporting both domestic and international projects with equal importance to the U.S. government. 

As a federally focused firm whose primary clients are the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, Mason & Hanger will continue to invest in such growth sectors of energy, sustainability, and security design services, says Lilly. Its strategic focus includes adding other government agencies “where we believe we can provide unique value.”  

Mason & Hanger will continue to focus on expanding its business with federal agencies. Image: Mason & Hanger

To achieve its objectives, Mason & Hanger will need to find qualified and capable people to support its work in complex environments and various geographies. “This is a good challenge to have and one I am most excited about,” says Lilly.

He is not averse to expansion via acquisition, either. After acquiring Hankins & Anderson last year, he says “we are always open to the right new growth opportunities that fit within our overall strategy.”

A graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Lilly is past president of the Virginia Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies, which in 2015 bestowed on Mason & Hanger its Virginia Engineering Excellence Grand Award for design of the Innovation Center in Helsinki, Finland. The previous year, Mason & Hanger received ACEC’s Virginia Engineering Excellence Pinnacle Award for design of the U.S. embassy in Monrovia, Liberia.

In his spare time, Lilly is an avid golfer and, as an Eagle Scout, has been an active leader with the Boy Scouts of America.