Marc A. Loranger brings an engineer’s monotone to his discussions about his profession as a professional engineer and project manager. Loranger, 33, talks with professional detachment about the projects his company, Gale Associates Inc., works on from its new Glastonbury location that he opened in March and staffs as its only employee. Gale is a consulting engineering firm specializing in building envelope technology, athletic facilities planning and design, civil engineering, airport engineering and planning, and structural engineering.
The passion in his voice comes through, though, when he talks about cars. Ask him what his hobbies are and his first answer is golf. Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “I’m also into cars.”
He’s into them to the point that he spent a recent vacation watching cars race. It wasn’t just any race (like NASCAR that one can see as close as New Hampshire). Loranger went to a Formula One grand prix race in Brussels, Belgium to get his fill. And, in a move most men would envy, he managed to combine the trek to the race track with a visit with his fiancée (he’s getting married in October 2010) who was working in Germany at the time.
Loranger drives what he describes as a “semi-street legal” 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. He doesn’t know its horsepower, but the Chevy has been rated at 405 horsepower and has a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds. He has raced it in auto cross events at Fort Devens in Massachusetts. He also drove one lap at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville but with this lament: “I was with 50 other cars so it wasn’t a very fast lap at all.”
His relocation from Watertown, Mass., just outside of Boston has been a good one. He loves the greenery and scenic farm country of Hebron, where he lives, and also enjoys Hartford. “The traffic is wonderful compared to Boston. It has a little history, not big-city history, but small-town history,” he said.
History is a favorite part of Loranger’s professional life. He recently completed three projects at the University of Vermont, including two on the National Register of Historic Places: the Ira Allen Chapel and Williams Hall.
