The main office of History Associates Incorporated, located in Rockville, Maryland.

The four historians who established History Associates Incorporated (HAI) in 1981 shared a conviction that history could be more than an enlightening subject for individual study. While working in government, business, and the academy, they realized that history could be a valuable resource for managers and policy makers.

The firm began when two of the founders were commissioned to write a book about the U.S. Department of Energy's response to the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident. Five years after its founding, HAI was named one of Inc. magazine's 500 fastest-growing private companies. Now comprising more than sixty-five employees and consultants, the firm provides a spectrum of services including historical research and writing, information resources management, historical research for litigation, and international services to help clients explore, preserve, present, and utilize the past. From its strategic base near the nation's capital in Rockville, Maryland, and a branch office in the Los Angeles, California, area, HAI serves clients nationwide and around the globe.

HAI's twenty-year history is recounted in the 2001 publication The Best Company in History™, available in pdf format. (Please note that this PDF file is 8 megs in size)