Founding and Namesake
Bancroft Architects + Engineers was originally founded by Paul Jenkins as a service-disabled Veteran owned engineering firm, dedicated to pioneering the efficient design of highly technical electrical and mechanical systems. Jenkins, a fourth generation Navy Veteran, named his new company in honor of the late Secretary of the Navy, George Bancroft, who established the United States Naval Academy in 1845. The trademark signature that forms Bancroft’s company logo is actually the signature of George Bancroft, used with permission.
Geo. Bancroft Engineering
By 2009, Geo. Bancroft Engineering had earned its CVE certification as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and had grown to 11 full-time engineers, each with sterling academic credentials that include multiple and advanced degrees from the world’s top schools. With mechanical, electrical, civil, and aerospace engineers, Geo. Bancroft Engineering offered clients a range of engineering services, backed by a portfolio of project experience unlike any other set-aside firm in America.
FSG Merger
Recognizing the need to broaden its scope of design expertise, Jenkins purchased one of the region’s most respected small architectural firms, Facilities Solutions Group, in 2011. Known for their precision in designing intensely complex facilities for scientific, military, and life sciences clients around the world, Facilities Solutions Group had the added advantage of an impeccable project history that extends back into the late 1990s. The name of the merged firm, Bancroft Architects + Engineers, reflects both the legacy of the original company with the historical connection the Jenkins family has to the Navy and Naval Academy as well as the full range of services on offer.
Bancroft A+E
Now with 25 full-time architects and engineers working from regional offices around the United States (Arlington, Virginia; New Orleans; and San Jose, California) in addition to the Illinois headquarters, Bancroft continues to grow. Given that three of its offices (Chicago, Arlington, and New Orleans) are led by service-disabled Veterans, it’s clear the firm has remained true to its roots in the service.Since its inception, Bancroft has every year earned the distinction of being named one of America’s Top 100 Diversity-Led Small Businesses, and was listed among America’s Top 500 Engineering Firms in both 2010 and 2011. In 2012 Bancroft Architects + Engineers was the first firm to earn the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business certification for the State of Illinois.
