Orange County’s top 38 engineering firms reported another year of growth with a nearly 10% increase in OC billings to $1.2 billion.
It’s the fifth straight year that year-over-year gains of more than 5% have been reported for the companies on the Business Journal’s list, which ranks OC’s largest engineering firms by local billings.
The list also provides companywide revenues, the number of licensed engineers and local employees, none of which affect the rankings.
While year-over-year billings for companies on the list is up, the cumulative total amount of billings is down; a year ago, 41 firms reported a 6.2% increase to $1.6 billion.
On a list to list basis, OC billings fell 25% this year.
The discrepancy between the two year’s amounts is because six companies dropped off this year’s list for various reasons, including a few notable acquisitions in the industry.
The firms on this week’s list combined to employ 1,258 licensed engineers, a 3.4% drop. Total local employment inched up by 2.4% to 4,905 workers, though.
The majority of firms, 25, reported their billings were up. Six said local billings were down from a year ago while the remaining seven firms are Business Journal estimates.
Companywide billings rose 4.2% to $64.1 billion in the year ended June 30.
Leaderboard
There was a bit of shuffling for the top five engineering firms, as each of them moved up in their rankings as last year’s No. 1 firm CH2M Cos. in Santa Ana dropped off the list.
CH2M, which in prior years was estimated to do upwards of $500 million in local business, was acquired by Irvine-based firm Jacobs in December (see story, page 11).
Jacobs is No. 6 on this week’s list.
• Fluor Corp., a Texas-based firm that a little more than a decade ago was based in Aliso Viejo and still counts a large presence in the area, claimed the No. 1 top spot with $307 million in OC billings, based on Business Journal estimates. Companywide billings for Fluor were also estimated to be at $19.5 billion.
• AECOM in Orange moved up one spot to No. 2, reporting an increase of 26.5% to $128.7 million.
Its companywide billings clocked in at $18.2 billion, up 4.6% from last year.
Chief Executive of LA Metro Region Kelli Bernard said the firm has seen “major increases in regional and state level funding sources in transportation, water, and power infrastructure.”
This has led to more projects moving ahead and greater demand for environmental permitting and planning.
Bernard said it’s tough to predict future growth as the political and social climate continues to change.
“We have yet to see how the current federal agenda, including tariffs, will impact the economy,” Bernard said. “There’s no doubt we have a great and urgent need to develop, fix and improve our existing infrastructure. For now, this charge is being led by local governments at the state, county and local levels. Private developers continue to be part of the momentum but as for how much growth this will fuel over the next year, no one can say with certainty.”
• The Irvine office of Tetra Tech Inc. climbed up two spots to No. 3 with OC billings at $59.5 million, based on Business Journal estimates.
Notables
The biggest gainer on the list was CDM Smith Inc. in Irvine. The company leapfrogged 10 spots to No. 14. It reported a 96.3% increase in OC billings to $23.3 million. Total billings dropped slightly by 0.5% to $1.2 billion. It employs 43 in its local office.
Three companies joined the list this year.
• Irvine-based firm TK1SC reported double-digit growth for local and companywide billings. It debuted on the list at No. 11 with $25.6 million in OC billings, up 15.8% from last year while firmwide billings rose 21.5% to $38.2 million. It added two licensed engineers bringing the total to 22. Total workforce also increased by 10 employees to 218.
Chief Executive Roger Carter and Chief Financial Officer Ray Swartz gave credit to its employees and anticipates strong growth going into next year.
“There are significant upcoming large construction [and] development programs in all the markets we serve, and our diverse and fully-integrated building service offerings continues to attract new clients, as well as further strengthen our relationships with our existing clients,” they said in a joint statement.
The company also added a sixth office in Seattle and added a structural engineering service for its clients.
• No. 26, KPFF Consulting Engineers in Irvine said OC billings increased about 30% to $9 million while companywide billings totaled $198.3 million, up 12.1%.
• No. 35, BFK Engineers in Newport Beach reported $3.1 million in OC billings, up 115.2%. Firmwide billings grew an estimated 8% to $95 million. It added two engineers to its team bringing the total to five while total workforce grew from 11 to 17.
