Environmental Companies See Billings Growth Slow to Nil
By CHRIS CZIBORR
Heady growth at Orange County environmental consulting companies came to a halt in 2002.
Billings at the 31 largest companies in OC were virtually unchanged at $427.9 million last year. The flat results fall short of the 2001 list’s 16% billings gain and the 9% increase in 2000.
This week’s Bus-iness Journal list ranks environmental consulting companies by billings generated out of their OC offices. Billing estimates were made for four consulting firms.
The slow economy took a toll on employment, with workforces falling 3% to 2,246, according to the 29 companies that reported those figures.
The top six firms held their positions.
Maintaining the No. 1 spot was the Santa Ana office of San Francisco-based URS Corp., which had an estimated $55 million in billings last year.
The company has benefited from consolidation in the past decade.
“Fortune 500 companies pared down the number of environmental contractors, with us being one of the largest ones who benefited from that.” said Steve Pearson, senior vice president of URS’ local office.
URS held steady its OC employment at 300 workers. Pearson said it plans to add about 25 people locally this year.
The Santa Ana office of No. 2 Denver-based CH2M Hill Cos. kept its spot with 9% billings growth to $53.9 million.
And the Irvine unit of Baton Rouge, La.-based Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. held on to its No. 3 position, growing billings 5% to $43 million
“We’re seeing general market growth related to our private developer business,” said Irvine office director John Richards. Shaw reported that 60% of its OC business is private.
Shaw’s Irvine office formerly was owned by Monroeville, Penn.-based IT Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in January 2002. Shaw bought IT’s assets, including the Irvine unit.
The company saw its OC workforce pared 18% to 216 after the bankruptcy. Richards said Shaw would add 15 to 25 people locally this year.
Steady Government Contracts
Shaw is picking up federal government wastewater and remediation work.
“From the federal sector right now there is no danger from funding cuts,” he said. “But if war breaks out in Iraq we could see federal funding cuts.”
Another notable: the Irvine office of No. 5 Cambridge, Mass.-based Camp Dresser & McKee Inc., which saw a 25% drop in billings to $30 million. Camp Dresser said billings fell after it finished a groundwater replenishment project.
The biggest percentage billings gainer was the Costa Mesa office of No. 7 Oakland-based Geomatrix Consultants Inc. The company reported a 57% gain in billings to $16.5 million to move up five spots on the list.
The company said it added a lot of compliance, investigation and remediation work. About 85% of the company’s work is in the private sector.
“We’re getting a greater percentage of work from our existing clients,” said Anthony Daus, president of the Costa Mesa office.
2003 could be tougher.
“At first we had penciled in for 10% billings growth but now I think we’ll be flat,” Daus said. “I could see the economy taking a little bit of a whack.”
The firm added nine workers last year for a total of 64. Daus said he expects to add another six or seven this year.
The biggest percentage decliner was Irvine-based No. 21 Chambers Group Inc., which saw billings fall 36% to $5.1 million,enough to move the firm down six spots vs. a year ago.
“We were doing quite a bit in the telecom world, and last year was not a good year for that industry,” said Sherman Smith, Chambers’ chief executive. “A lot of that was field surveys and studies (see photo) for new wireless towers for companies like AT & T; and PacBell. All that work pretty much died.”
Smith sees other challenges cropping up.
“What really is starting to hurt us now are the cutbacks in state and federal funding for infrastructure projects,” Smith said.
Three firms debuted on this year’s list: the Irvine office of No. 23 San Diego-based Ninyo & Moore Inc., which reported billings of $4.2 million; the Irvine office of No. 28 Sacramento-based Jones & Stokes Associates Inc., which grew billings 29% to $3.1 million; and Irvine-based No. 29 Michael Brandman Associates Inc., which saw billings fall 4% to $2.9 million.
Two firms dropped off the list because they didn’t make the billings cutoff: last year’s No. 29, the Orange office of Omaha, Neb.-based HDR Inc., which reported billings of $650,000 and the former No. 30 Atlanta-based Golder Associates Inc. in Irvine, which saw billings of $2 million.
