1982

Ghafari Associates is founded by Yousif B. Ghafari in Southeast Michigan.

1987

Ghafari grows to over 100 employees and opens an office in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1988

Ghafari is recognized by INC. Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the United States.

1990

Ghafari is ranked as one of the “Top 500 Design Firms” in the U.S. by Engineering News-Record. We have remained on the list every year since. During this year, we acquire three respected architecture firms to diversify our service offerings.

1992

We celebrate our 10-year anniversary and move into a new headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.

1993

Ghafari grows to over 230 employees.

1995

Ghafari is awarded Ford Motor Company’s Preferred Quality Status “Q1” rating. We are one of only two EAC firms worldwide to be recognized with this distinction. We also break into the top 200 of ENR’s “Top 500 Design Firms” list

1998

Ghafari adopts computer-generated three-dimensional modeling to offer our clients photo-realistic renderings of their projects.

1999

We invest in our first laser scanner, expanding our capabilities to include high-definition surveying.

2000

Kouhaila G. Hammer is named Ghafari’s President and CEO.

2001

Following another acquisition, Ghafari begins offering new capabilities in the areas of manufacturing equipment design and process engineering.

2004

Ghafari opens a full-service office in downtown Chicago that specializes in servicing niche technical markets, including the aviation industry. We also become a 6 Sigma organization.

2005

Ghafari is featured in an ENR cover story titled “Soaring into the Virtual World: Build It First”. The article discusses our pioneering efforts in the application of 3D BIM for a series of projects with General Motors.

2006

The new General Motors Delta Township Assembly Plant earns LEED Gold certification and is our first fully integrated 3D project.

2007

Ghafari opens our first international office in Doha, Qatar.

2008

Ghafari establishes operations in India, opening an office in Baroda. ENR ranks us at No. 93 on its “Top Design Firms” list.

2009

Ghafari opens an office in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and is awarded a contract by the U.S. General Services Administration to provide BIM consulting services nationwide. This year, we also earn our ISO 9001:2008 certification.

2010

We open offices in Muscat, Oman and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to support large-scale projects at two of the region's busiest airports.

2011

We receive two AIA Technology in Architecture Practice BIM Awards for the Chicago Federal Center and McCoy Federal Building projects.

2012

We continue to expand our global footprint, opening an office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ghafari is recognized by Ford Motor Company as one of its top performing global suppliers, receiving the automaker’s prestigious World Excellence Award. We are the sole EAC firm to be recognized.

2013

Ghafari launches vPlanner, a visual planning and control software solution developed in-house that supports lean project delivery.

2014

AIA Michigan honors Ghafari as the “2014 Firm of the Year”, and ENR ranks us among the “Top 10 Midwest Design Firms”. We also open an office in Birmingham, Alabama to expand our geographic reach to the Southeast U.S.

2015

Ghafari establishes an office in Mexico City to continue serving manufacturing clients as they expand their local operations in Mexico. We are also named the #1 designer of automotive facilities by ENR.

2016

Ghafari is ranked as one of the top five designers of manufacturing facilities in the U.S. by ENR.

2017

ENR Midwest names us "Design Firm of the Year".

2018

Ghafari acquires Concept Design Group, an architecture and interior design firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This acquisition further bolsters our corporate and commercial design capabilities.