Tetra Tech Inc., the No. 1 ranked environmental consultant and engineering services firm in Orange County, showed notable local gains last year, though the company’s overall future may be affected by the Trump administration’s freeze on U.S. international development work.
Tetra, with its headquarters in Pasadena and a large presence in Irvine, said billings for environmental work completed by the OC office climbed almost 5% to $92 million last year.
In presenting its record companywide revenue of $1.4 billion for the first quarter on Jan. 29, the company (Nasdaq: TTEK) made it clear it is bracing for impact from the stalled USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) payments.
“At the direction of the new U.S. Administration, Tetra Tech has paused some of its U.S. federal government work, particularly with USAID, while assisting our clients with their review of multiple programs across the various government agencies we support,” the company said in the earnings release.
Tetra Tech said it has updated its companywide guidance for fiscal year 2025 based on its current outlook, which includes the potential impact of the ongoing U.S. federal government review process.
“The temporary hold on USAID contracts could impact revenue by $200 million in Q1 and $400 million annually,” investor website Investing.com said on Feb. 1.
Whether the freeze will hurt other OC environmental consultants on the Business Journal’s list remains to be seen.
Overall, billings at the 14 firms fell 4% to $460 million. Companywide, the firms increased 12% to $10.8 billion. The companies’ employee count, which includes work done in other areas, climbed 12% to 2,647.
Only four of the firms have their headquarters in Orange County.
A notable jump in employees was at WSP Global Inc., which has been on a roll-up strategy in recent years and restructuring its local facilities. For example, the Montreal-based firm paid $1.8 billion last October to acquire Power Engineers Inc., which has 4,000 employees throughout North America, including an office in Anaheim. WSP’s OC employee count has grown to 400 employees, up from 122 a year ago; not all the employees are involved in environmental consulting. The Business Journal boosted the company’s OC environmental billings by 10% to an estimated $18 million.
Ramboll Americas, Aecom
Tetra Tech was the clear top firm with roughly $34 million more in billings than the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked companies.
Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions Inc. in Irvine saw a decrease of just over 1% in OC office billings last year to $58.4 million while Aecom Technical Services dropped just over 20% to $57.8 million, taking the No. 2 and No. 3 slots respectively.
Tait of Santa Ana, ranked No. 6, reported the highest percentage growth in OC office billings, rising an estimated 23% to $25 million in 2024 local billings. The company won a Business Journal Family-Owned Business Award in 2022. The next highest percentage increase came from Irvine-based LSA Associates Inc., jumping just over 21% to $14.6 million – ranking it No. 11 on this year’s list.
Notables:
• Geosyntec Consultants Inc. in Costa Mesa, with its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, came in at No. 10 with an estimated $20 million.
• London-based Environmental Resources Management, which has an Irvine office, reported 15% growth to $27.3 million, good for the No. 5 spot.
• Irvine-based Noreas Inc., ranked No. 14, had an estimated $11.4 million in annual OC billings, down 5% from the prior year.
• Anaheim-based ATI Restoration dropped 50% to $21.8 million, ranking it No. 9 (see page 1).
The revenue decline was “due to one large job that concluded in 2023,” an ATI representative told the Business Journal.
Research Director Desmond Celo contributed to this report
