Coffman Engineers Acquires S.S. Dannaway Associates

Words: Bronzella Cleveland

Coffman Engineers, Inc., a mid-sized, multidiscipline engineering firm, has acquired Honolulu-based fire protection engineering firm S.S. Dannaway Associates, Inc (SSDA).

SSDA is the Pacific Rim’s leading fire protection engineering firm. They bring to Coffman 14 staff members and more than 30 years of experience through offices in Honolulu and Guam. Coffman has more than 360 employees with eight office locations serving clients across the United States and overseas.

Coffman Engineers Founder, Dave Coffman, said: “I am particularly excited about the fire protection engineering growth at Coffman with the addition of Sam Dannaway and his staff. We have a great deal of respect for the successful business Sam has built, their technical capabilities, and their dominance in the Pacific Rim fire protection market. We are privileged to provide SSDA employees a great place to work, commitment to their career growth, and support for SSDA clients with the excellence in services they have come to expect.”

Founder and President of S.S. Dannaway, Samuel S. Dannaway, added: “All of us at S.S. Dannaway Associates are thrilled to join the Coffman team. We are very excited that our fire protection group will play a key role in fulfilling the Coffman commitment to providing quality fire protection engineering throughout the United States and important international markets.”

SSDA’s employees will remain in their current office location. Samuel Dannaway, PE, FSFPE, will become VP of Fire Protection Technology at Coffman. Other SSDA partners Robert T. Bigtas, PE; and Jay T. Higashi, PE, will become principals at Coffman and lead the Pacific Region fire protection group.

The addition of the SSDA staff brings Coffman’s Honolulu presence to more than 40 multidiscipline engineers and support staff, and also grows the companywide fire protection engineering group to 40 professionals located across the country.

Helical Beaming: Your Top 6 Questions on Installation, Cost, and Limitations
March 2026

Although helical masonry beaming is still an underutilized and relatively unknown method in masonry repair and restoration, the number of questions and requests I get on this topic increases every week, which I view as promising. Helical masonry beaming i

Wired for Safety: Electrical Maintenance for Fire Prevention
March 2026

Could your company survive if an electrical failure sparked a fire at your business? Electrical malfunctions cause thousands of non-residential building fires annually.1 Proactive maintenance and action are essential to help safeguard your operations.

The Behind-the-Wall Secrets Every Mason Already Knows (But Some Ignore)
March 2026

You’ve been around long enough to know this already: stone doesn’t fail on the face; it fails behind the wall. You can lay the prettiest veneer in the county, but if the prep is junk, that wall’s gonna start telling on you after a couple of winters. Manu

From the Mound to the Mortar: Jon Rauch’s Tall Order in the Masonry Industry
March 2026

In the record books of Major League Baseball, Jon Rauch is a literal giant. At 6 feet, 11 inches, he remains the tallest player to ever step onto a Big League mound. But today, the Olympic Gold Medalist and 11-season MLB veteran isn’t looking for a strike