From Garage to Growth: How Patrick Plourde Builds More Than Just Structures

For Patrick Plourde, civil and structural engineering isn’t just a profession—it’s a foundation on which dreams are built. As the founder and president of Live Oak Engineering, Inc., he leads a growing team of 35 employees across three states, serving architects, contractors and developers with the structural and civil designs that bring projects to life.

“If you’re going to build a building, you hire an architect—and then they hire us,” Patrick says. “The architects make them pretty, but we make them stand up.”

Live Oak Engineering began in 2007 in the garage of Patrick’s Alabama home. A Mississippi State University graduate with a degree in civil engineering, Patrick moved to Birmingham in 2002 after working in Little Rock. His passion for design and problem-solving quickly turned into a full-fledged business.

Today, the firm is licensed in 30 states and works with a wide range of commercial and public-sector clients. From FedEx Freight facilities to DR Horton subdivisions and school districts across Mississippi, Live Oak is known for precision, reliability and long-term partnerships. “I’m on project 250 with one of our original clients,” Patrick says. “That kind of relationship tells you everything.”

That growth hasn’t come without pivotal moments—and key partnerships. In 2020, Patrick connected with Sam Renta of Alliance Capital Corporation (ACC) through a mutual contact at CommerceOne Bank. He secured an SBA loan to purchase Live Oak’s Birmingham office—just days before the COVID-19 shutdown.

“We closed on March 6, 2020 right before the world shut down,” Patrick recalls. “I looked at my wife and said, worst case scenario, it could be a restaurant.”

With the support of ACC, PPP funding and a small local bank that understood his vision, Patrick navigated the uncertainty and came out stronger. “Without our lender and Sam, we might not have made it,” he says. “That’s the power of a relationship-focused lender. We never really stressed too much because we knew they had our back.”

The partnership with ACC continued in 2024, when Patrick acquired a Florida-based firm, expanding Live Oak’s footprint to Jacksonville. Again, Sam stepped in with a creative SBA lending solution tailored to the deal. “Sam was so accommodating,” says Plourde. “That loan was sizable and he worked hard to find us a lender and held our hand through the process. I know steel and concrete—Sam knows SBA loans.”

Live Oak now operates physical offices in Birmingham, Biloxi and Jacksonville, with additional team members in Huntsville and soon in Little Rock. Looking ahead, Patrick envisions further expansion—possibly through strategic alliances or acquisitions. He’s particularly interested in rounding out the team with mechanical and electrical engineering capabilities, alongside Live Oak’s existing civil and structural services. “Every project is a team effort,” he says. “The architect typically takes the lead and each team member contributes in a collaborative design to provide the owner a project that meets the budget and design intent in the most efficient manner possible.”

For Patrick, business growth is about more than the bottom line. It’s about creating opportunity—for employees, clients and the communities they serve.