PS&S Expands into North Carolina with Acquisition of Priest Craven & Associates

WARREN, N.J., March 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PS&S, a full-service architecture, engineering, design, surveying, and environmental firm with a 64-year history, today announced that it has acquired Priest Craven & Associates, Inc., a Raleigh, North Carolina-based civil engineering and surveying firm with more than four decades of experience serving the residential and commercial real estate development markets throughout the Research Triangle region.

“This acquisition is part of a strategic growth plan we set forth to grow PS&S with expanded capabilities and greater geographic reach,” said PS&S President and CEO John Sartor. “North Carolina, particularly the Research Triangle area, has long been a target market for us. The addition of the Priest Craven team provides us with an immediate and meaningful presence in one of the most dynamic growth regions in the country.”

Founded in 1983, Priest Craven & Associates specializes in civil engineering, site planning, and surveying services. The firm’s portfolio includes single-family detached neighborhoods, townhomes, garden-style and mid-rise apartment communities, as well as office buildings and shopping centers throughout the Raleigh-Durham market.

Priest Craven’s team will join PS&S and continue operating from their Raleigh office, which will serve as the firm’s North Carolina hub.

“After more than 40 years serving clients in the Raleigh-Durham market, it was important to find the right long-term partner for our team and our clients,” said Tommy Craven, who co-founded the firm in 1983. “This is truly a win-win. PS&S gains a strong, established presence in the Research Triangle, and our employees have the opportunity to grow within a larger organization while continuing to work together and serve the clients who have trusted us for decades. Our clients get the benefit of their current relationship with Priest Craven, coupled with the strength, stability and capacity of PS&S.”

The acquisition allows PS&S to expand its multi-disciplinary services, including life sciences, energy, utility, engineering, and advanced environmental services, beyond their presence in the Northeast.

“The Triangle region is experiencing strong growth. Our strategy is not simply to enter a new geography, but to grow thoughtfully,” Sartor said. “Priest Craven brings 40-plus years of local knowledge, strong client relationships, and a reputation for quality. Together, we are well positioned to serve the evolving needs of developers and communities across North Carolina.”

About PS&S

Founded in 1962, PS&S has evolved into a unique best-in-class architecture, engineering, surveying, and environmental consulting firm, providing design and consultation services to a wide range of public, corporate, institutional and commercial clients. PS&S is ranked among the top national design firms by Engineering News Record (and among the top 15 national engineering firms in pharmaceuticals). Recognized both for its breadth of services and depth of expertise, PS&S is the single source for planning, permitting and design at the local, State and Federal levels. To learn more, please visit www.psands.com.

Media Contact:

Deborah Kostroun
201-403-8185
deborah@zitopartners.com 

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/03/06/3251097/0/en/PS-S-Expands-into-North-Carolina-with-Acquisition-of-Priest-Craven-Associates.html

At Croft Farm in Cherry Hill, these archaeologists are searching for artifacts from the Underground Railroad

Croft Farm was once a stop for Black people seeking freedom from slavery. Now, a fresh archaeological expedition seeks to learn more about its role in that era.

To the casual observer, it’s just an L-shaped hole in the ground, about 40 inches deep, showing two distinct layers of dirt.

But to the archaeologists who dug the hole, it’s a portal into the past going back thousands of years.

Croft Farm is a national historic site. Its owners during the mid-1800s helped Black people escape from slavery. The farmhouse, outbuildings, and 80 acres of the farm are now owned by Cherry Hill Township, part of a recreational and educational space for the public.

The darker brown top layer of “silty sand” contains artifacts from the last 300 years, an era when both enslavers and those dedicated to emancipation lived on the site, according to Matt Kraemer, 27, an archaeologist from Summit, N.J.

Below it, the lighter-colored layer has revealed artifacts from a time when the Lenni-Lenape Indigenous people lived on the land along the Cooper River, in what is now Cherry Hill.

“It’s a very significant site for the fact that it has a Native American component, plus everything the Evans family left behind,” Kraemer said Saturday.

The Evans family was part of the Quaker religious movement, and like many area Quakers of the time, owners Thomas Evans and his son Josiah were part of the New Jersey Abolition Society, “a group that advocated an end to slavery and also helped to maintain the Underground Railroad,” according to a history of Croft Farm provided by Cherry Hill Township.

The farm’s historical significance presents a great learning opportunity, said Matthew Tomaso, the archaeologist leading the project for PS&S, an architecture and engineering firm with a location in Warren Township.

A year ago, PS&S was brought in to oversee cultural resource management as the township sought to stop groundwater from entering the basement of the brick house on the property, Tomaso said.

That gave Tomaso and his team a chance to see what they might find that would shine a light on the property’s role as a station on the Underground Railroad.

Animal bones, pieces of pottery, and other artifacts help tell that story, Tomaso said, by showing the dietary patterns, habits, and traditions of the people living there at the time.

That includes previously enslaved people known to have lived there, such as Joshua Sadler, as well as others who worked and lived on the farm, he said.Sadler went on to found nearby Sadlertown, a Black settlement located in what is now Haddon Township.

What they learn could be especially important since the Underground Railroad was not well documented at the time it was in operation, due to the need to maintain secrecy, Tomaso said.

Mostly, though, they have found bones, said Chelsea Carriere, 29, an archaeologist who called herself “the bone lady.”

Carriere explained that she was looking closely at cow, pig, and bird bone fragments — and the ways the animals were butchered nearly 200 years ago.

To her, the rough cuts on the bones show that these animals likely were raised on the farm or hunted, and were likely butchered on-site, rather than through a butcher shop.

“They were doing it themselves, and that suggests lower socioeconomic status,” Carriere said. Her team is still in the early stages of examining the artifacts.

To her, some of the most amazing finds so far were discovered deeper down in the dirt and would date back 2,000 or more years. These include a piece of argillite that she surmised was a spear point, and a basalt biface, an ancient tool that would have been used for cutting.

“This is a really good site,” Carriere said.

It was also a great experience Saturday for learners of all ages who listened to demonstrations and, with archaeologists’ guidance, used a sifter to search for artifacts in the dirt.

“I love to know what people were doing hundreds of years ago,” said Cherry Hill resident Debbie Kilderry, 71, as she watched children sift the soil.

She came to the site with two artifacts she had obtained — a small porcelain container and a stone — hoping that the archaeologists might have insights into their origins. Tomaso’s professional analysis: She had a real arrowhead, likely from the American West, and a cup once used for coffee cream.

To Kilderry, it is exciting to connect with those who came before her.

“I’m excited to see what they were doing, because they were people just like us — just with different inconveniences."

https://www.inquirer.com/news/croft-farm-cherry-hill-lenape-underground-railroad-20260221.html

December 2025 External Newsletter

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September 2025 External Newsletter

Source: https://link.psands.com/v/443/122c5a87c205...

PS&S Acquires Office Specializing in Engineering for Life Sciences, Chemical Process Industries

WARREN, N.J., July 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PS&S, a full-service architecture, engineering, design, surveying and environmental firm with a 63-year history, has acquired an engineering practice in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The employees will join the architectural/engineering group at PS&S, bringing clean space design expertise and process engineering services to PS&S as well as contributing to the company’s strategic goal of increasing its presence in the Eastern Pennsylvania area.

The employees bring comprehensive experience in process design across the life sciences, pharmaceutical and food industries. From cleanroom configurations to sterile product flows, their work has helped to shape facilities that feed the world and save lives.

“PS&S is thrilled to welcome these talented process engineers, who, by joining forces with our architecture and engineering teams, will complement our existing capabilities in the life sciences space,” said PS&S President and CEO, John Sartor. “Bringing on these employees in Allentown aligns with our general growth initiatives, enhancing our ability to service our clients on a nationwide basis.”

“We look forward to using our prowess in pharmaceutical GMPs, GMP manufacturing process and bioprocess design to help PS&S advance its process engineering abilities across the life sciences, pharmaceutical and food industries,” said PS&S Senior Project Executive, David Marks. “Vastly focused on the life sciences and clean manufacturing industries, we’re eager to help PS&S step into the next phase of its evolution and build stronger, more integrated solutions for the firm’s clientele.”

About PS&S

Founded in 1962, PS&S has evolved into a unique best-in-class architecture, engineering, surveying, and environmental consulting firm, providing design and consultation services to a wide range of public, corporate, institutional and commercial clients. PS&S is ranked among the top national design firms by Engineering News Record (and among the top 15 national engineering firms in pharmaceuticals). Recognized both for its breadth of services and depth of expertise, PS&S is the single source for planning, permitting and design at the local, State and Federal levels. To learn more, please visit www.psands.com.

Media Contact:

Deborah Kostroun
201-403-8185
deborah@zitopartners.com 

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/07/10/3113577/0/en/PS-S-Acquires-Office-Specializing-in-Engineering-for-Life-Sciences-Chemical-Process-Industries.html

May 2025 External Newsletter

Spring 2024 External Newsletter

PS&S Acquires Two Firms in Southern NJ

PS&S, a full-service architecture, engineering, design, surveying, and environmental firm with more than a 60-year history, today announced that it has purchased* Stout & Caldwell Engineers, LLC, Cinnaminson, NJ, a civil engineering firm focused on residential and commercial real estate and Becica Associates LLC, Cherry Hill, NJ., an architectural firm with a reputation for excellence in the design of public buildings.

*This transaction involved asset purchases pursuant to separate agreements.

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Winter 2024 Newsletter