Economic instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures and recession concerns appear to be in the rear-view mirror as the largest engineering firms in the U.S. and Canada, with operations in Orange County, show a nearly 21% rise in local billings for the year that ended on June 30.
Local billings for the 20 companies on this edition’s list exceeded $1.46 billion, up from the $1.3 billion reported on last year’s list. The firms’ OC billings climbed much higher than the company-wide billings, which rose 5.8% to $57.7 billion.
Only two engineering firms of the 20 surveyed reported a decline in local billings. Irvine-based Fuscoe Engineering Inc. billings fell 8%. GMU Engineers & Geologists, based in Rancho Santa Margarita, also reported a year-over-year decline, dipping 5% to $11.1 million for the 12 months trailing June 30. The firm was hired to provide engineering services for the new parking structure at Dana Point Harbor. The other six firms with headquarters in OC average 38% in gains.
Anaheim-based Willdan Group Inc. reported the greatest gains in local billings – 208% to $123.3 million – helping it jump from the No. 11 spot a year ago to a No. 4 ranking this year. Companywide, the firm’s billings climbed 21% to $551.9 million. Major deals for Willdan Group during the back half off 2023 and first six months of 2024 included a $12 million contract with Paramount to execute the city’s Climate Action Plan and a $46 million energy deal with Clark County School District in Nevada for energy-efficient projects.
Data centers that rely on artificial intelligence have aided Willdan’s growth. Its shares have about doubled in the past year to a $514.3 million market cap, making it the most valuable publicly traded company with headquarters in Anaheim (Nasdaq: WLDN).
The companies reported their local employee count climbed 3.9% to 3,548; their number of engineers grew 4.1% to 1,019.
Eight of the firms have their headquarters in Orange County, led by Irvine with four. Irvine also led the OC cities with nine engineering offices, followed by three in Santa Ana and two in Orange.
Top Three
The three largest engineering firms kept their positions.
Irving, Texas-based Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR), with its local operations in Aliso Viejo, retained the top spot it earned on last year’s list, with an estimated $300 million in local billings and $19.1 billion in company-wide billings.
Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell, operating locally out of Brea, claimed the second spot on this year’s list with a 44% jump to $215.5 million in local billings. The firm’s reported companywide billings rose 3% to $6.9 billion.
Los Angeles-based Aecom Technical Services, which has an operation in Orange, rounded out the top three with a 33% increase in local billings, to more than $183.6 million for the surveyed time period. Aecom’s company-wide billings increased by 9% to more than $14.4 billion.
Notables
• Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., which has an office in Orange and headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, increased its OC billings by 27% to $64.1 million.
“Our optimistic growth outlook in Orange County for 2025 is based on a diverse mix of both public and private sector projects across Southern California,” spokesman Lisa Chavez told the Business Journal. “We are further growing our ability to serve OC clients with an expansion of our existing Orange office to three floors, as well as targeting south Orange County office expansion later in 2025.”
The company has hired more than 25 college graduates as well as 38 other staff for its OC office in the past year. It now has a local headcount of 106.
“This organic growth allows us to further develop the next generation of consultants serving Orange County,” Chavez said.
n Psomas, which has an office in Santa Ana and headquarters in Los Angeles, rose 46% to $40.3 million, climbing to No. 11.
“Our billings increase can be attributed to better-than-expected results for two of our civil engineering teams,” said Psomas Regional Marketing Manager Lynn Gilbert.
n Three engineering firms dropped off this year’s list: Irvine-based Guida, Dallas-based Jacobs and Las Vegas-based Wright Engineers.
Jacobs, the fourth-ranked engineering firm on last year’s list, reported a 94% drop to less than $6.5 million. The Dallas-based engineering firm reported 9.6% gain for companywide billings of $16.4 billion.
A Jacobs representative told the Business Journal that the company “restructured discipline areas,” hence the reported drops in local billings. Its local headcount also fell 29% to 107 employees.
