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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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Big Billings

Orange County environmental consulting companies saw another year of gains in billings, spurred by the number of real estate projects here and a strong local economy.

The 30 largest companies here reported a 5% increase in billings to $510 million, according to this week’s Business Journal list. Companies are ranked based on billings generated out of their OC offices.

Eighteen companies posted billings gains, with three declining and nine estimates.

Excluding estimates, the remaining consultants saw a 9% rise in billings to $363 million.

Consultants reported an 8% gain in companywide billings to $7.7 billion.

The companies grew their OC workforce 8% to 3,207 people.

The spur of redevelopment in the county,industrial and defense sites being developed into housing, offices and retail buildings,has boosted work for environmental consultants, said Thomas Tait, president of No. 10 Santa Ana-based Tait & Associates Inc.

Projects such as Irvine-based SunCal Cos.’ Marblehead Coastal in San Clemente, San Diego-based Excel Realty Holdings’ Anaheim GardenWalk and Lennar Corp.’s redevelopment of the El Toro Marine base are a few that are incorporating consultants’ guidelines on storm water management, waste minimization and recycling systems.






The goal: minimize the effects of development on the environment.

“There’s a growing awareness of the environment,” said Michael Burke, executive vice president of No. 9 RBF Consulting. “More developers are using sustainable design guidelines (from environmental consulting companies).”

RBF grew its OC billings by 3% to $16.5 million. The company expects OC’s strong economy and growing population to continue to bolster development and environmental engineering work.

There wasn’t much movement among the top companies on the list.

Denver-based CH2M Hill Cos. held onto the No. 1 spot again, with a 17% jump in local billings to $87.5 million, versus a year ago.

The company saw an increase in government agency work, said John Caldwell, vice president and area office manager. CH2M added 134 workers at its Santa Ana office, a 44% increase.

“We’re continuing to provide a lot of support to federal agencies such as the Department of Defense,” he said. “We’ve dealt with the transferring of former defense locations into the private sector like El Toro and the Tustin air base.”

No. 2 San Francisco-based URS Corp.’s Santa Ana office was flat with an estimated $47 million in local billings and 225 workers. A year prior, the company moved up to the No. 2 spot on 18% growth in billings.

No. 3 Connecticut-based TRC Cos.’ Irvine office was up a mere 1% to $43.9 million in local billings. The company saw its worker count rise 3% to 253 people.

No. 4 Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc.’s Irvine office declined to disclose information. The Business Journal estimated the company’s billings at $40 million, with an estimated 200 workers.

Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. in Irvine came in at No. 5 with an 8% increase in billings to $28 million. The company posted a 4% drop in local workers to 70.

At No. 6 was Geomatrix Consultants Inc. in Newport Beach with a 12% jump in billings to $22 million. The company’s local workers remained flat at 90.

No. 7 Orange-based P & D; Consultants Inc. saw an 11% spike in billings to $21.5 million. The consultant added nine OC workers, a 6% increase, for a total of 160.

No. 24 Costa Mesa-based BonTerra Consulting posted a 3% gain in billings here to $6 million.

The company’s seen an increase for work in tank removal, landfill and road expansion, according to Joan Patronite Kelly, chief executive and managing principal.

The consultant reported a 5% increase in local workers to 40.

The biggest gainer was No. 8 Arlington, Va.-based Environ International Corp. Its Irvine office posted a 32% gain in local billings to $19.8 million, moving it up two spots. The company added six employees, a 9% increase, to 75 people in OC.

Environ has seen an increase in greenhouse gas work for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as for transportation companies looking to cut down their emissions, said Joseph Hower, managing principal of the Southern California region.

The company also has seen an increase in industrial cleanup and environmental planning for urban redevelopment projects, he said.

“The company’s growth has been driven by a lot of things,” Hower said. “The environmental business is very much global and the fact that Environ has an international presence has contributed to our work on issues like air pollution, water and air quality on a global level.”

The biggest decliner was Tait & Associates, posting a 19% drop in local billings to $14.9 million. The company’s OC workforce also shrank 14% to 95 people.

Newcomers to this year’s list include No. 15 Anaheim-based Miller Environmental Inc. with $11 million in billings and 180 workers and No. 27 Irvine-based Chambers Group with $5.1 million and 45 employees.

Closing out the list at No. 30 was newcomer Sacramento-based Jones & Stokes Associates Inc. The company’s Irvine office posted $4.8 million in billings here with 39 local workers.

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