MWBE SPOTLIGHT: Criado and Associates
By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication
Posted on September 13, 2021, September 13, 2021

MWBE Spotlight

Throughout the year, the City of Arlington is highlighting minority-owned and women-owned businesses who help make The American Dream City a better place to live, work, play and learn. Our latest interview is with Criado and Associates, a woman-owned firm that has participated in several City projects, including the 2017 Miscellaneous Drainage Improvements, the Engineering Services Contract for the John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant Lab and Maintenance Building, and the Engineering Services Contract for Poly Webb Road.

When was your company founded and where is it located?

Criado and Associates was formed in 2001 in Dallas, Texas, by Cristina Criado, PE. In the fall of 2021, we will be opening our Fort Worth office.

What types of projects do you do? What is your company’s specialty?

We are a full-service Civil Engineering, Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE), Land Surveying and Construction Administration Services firm, providing quality consulting services to the public sector in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. We have actively participated in a wide variety of contracts serving over 20 municipal clients, such as City of Arlington, DFW International Airport, City of Fort Worth, City of Keller, Dallas Water Utilities, City of Dallas Public Works Department and Parks and Recreation, North Texas Municipal Water District, and TxDOT, to name a few.

Our projects include Highways, Municipal Roadways, Water and Wastewater Pipelines and Facilities, Airports, and Recreational Facilities such as Parks, Pedestrian, and Bike Trails.

How many employees does Criado & Associates have?

We currently have a staff of 49, which includes six Texas Professional Engineers (PE), four Registered Professional Land Surveyors (RPLS), and three Engineers in Training (EITs).

In addition to your work with the City, what are other area projects you have done that you would like to highlight?

Criado would like to highlight the civil plan review, utility coordination, and civil field inspection services for the various construction phases of the new $1.15 billion, 3-million-square-foot Globe Life Field baseball stadium, where we worked a sub to Bureau Veritas North America, Inc.

Are there any other ties to Arlington that you would like to highlight?

We have five University of Texas at Arlington graduates, including our owner, Cristina Criado, who received her Master of Science in Civil Engineering there. Other graduates include Dana Henry (BBA) Accounting Manager; Patrick Dunn (BSUS) SUE Manager; David Palacios, EIT (BSCE, MSCE) Staff Engineer; and Drew Payne, EIT (BSCE) Staff Engineer.

What does it mean to you/your company that the City of Arlington has made a commitment to providing meaningful opportunities to local and MWBE businesses for city projects and contracts?

We see the City of Arlington’s commitment to local MWBE businesses as a growth initiative that provides small yet well qualified and local firms an opportunity to compete as a prime on projects that our staff members and their families are patrons and infrastructure users. Whether it is attending a Cowboys or Rangers game or meeting friends at a park or restaurant, we are part of the growing community and the metroplex and the City of Arlington allows us to help build our community.

Criado and Associates


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