Orange County’s largest environmental consultants faced a tough landscape last year, with no big increase in government spending—a staple of the segment—and aftershocks from the difficulties in the energy sector.
Environmental consultants help clients adhere to regulations in a variety aspects of commercial development and other projects. Efforts can range from dealing with contaminated land to conducting environmental risk assessments on projects and devising programs to comply with environmental regulations.
The 33 firms on this year’s list combined for about $603 million in local billings for a 0.3% decline from the $605 million reported the prior year.
Eleven of the companies reported increases in billings, 11 said OC billings dropped from the previous year, one reported no change, and the rest were even based on Business Journal estimates.
Highlights at the top of the list include:
• Englewood, Colo.-based CH2M Hill Cos. retaining the top spot locally, with its Santa Ana office billing for $166 million, even with last year;
• Pasadena-based Tetra Tech Inc. holding on to No. 2 with $55 million in billings from its Irvine office;
• Los Angeles-based AECOM office in Orange seeing a 12% increase in billing to secure No. 3 with $45 million;
• Orange-based Miller Environmental Inc. finishing at No. 4, with billings estimated at $38 million, unchanged from a year earlier;
• Boca Raton-based Geosyntec Consultants Inc. jumping four spots to No. 5. It also was one of 10 consultants that said its OC office increased billings for the year. Its Huntington Beach office billed for $28 million last year, a 37% increase year over year;
• Alpharetta, Ga.-based Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure Inc. falling out of the top 10 to No. 16 with a 59% drop in local revenue to $10 million.
Two companies dropped off this year’s list altogether: Irvine-based Leighton Consulting Inc. saw a 74% drop in billings to $874,476 last year, falling below the $1 million requirement for the list. And the Business Journal dropped Sydney, Australia-based WorleyParsons after the company closed its Fountain Valley office in 2014.
Two new companies premiered this year: Brea-based Project Navigator Ltd. debuted at No. 28 with $3.2 million, and Rocklin-based ECORP Consulting Inc. joined at No. 31, with its Santa Ana office billing for $2.6 million.
Only four firms outside of the top 10 reported double-digit growth: Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co., with an 80% increase in billings from its Brea office to $9 million. Burns & McDonnell was one of 10 companies that added jobs in OC, increasing the headcount 16% in its Brea office with the hiring of 14 new people.
Los Angeles-based Psomas ranked No. 11 after its Santa Ana office had a 23% increase in billings to $16 million.
San Diego-based Kleinfelder took No. 32 with a 19% increase to $1.7 million in billings from its Irvine office.
And No. 24-ranked San Diego-based Ninyo & Moore said its Irvine office had a 14% increase in billings to $5.4 million.
Among the most notable falls were:
• No. 27 Santa Ana-based Chambers Group Inc. had a 23% fall in billings to about $4 million;
• No. 13 Windsor, Conn.-based TRC Cos. said billings from its Irvine office fell 17% to $14.5 million;
• No. 30 Edmonton, Alberta-based Stantec saw a 16% fall in billings to $2.7 million at its Irvine office.
The slight decline in revenue matches analysts’ projections for flat revenue growth for 2015 because most of the firms’ clients are federal, state or local government agencies.
The largest environmental firm, CH2M, said in its 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that about 19% of its total revenue came from U.S. federal government contracts and 25 out of 36 clients are government entities, with the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense listed prominently among its clients.
Its private-sector clients include oil and gas companies, general manufacturing companies, universities, and metals and mining companies.
The company also said that the softening oil and gas industry in 2015 affected environmental consultants’ revenues due to a lower production in volume and a decreased need for consulting services, operations and maintenance contracts.
Most environmental consulting firms combined to trim local employment by 3.6% to 3,339.
AECOM let go of the greatest number of OC employees—59, or 10% of its local office. Chambers Group laid off 35, or 38% of its people. Highlands Ranch, Colo.-based Arcadis U.S. Inc. released 26 of its 151 staffers, and CH2M shed 23 of its 180 people in OC.
