The largest environmental consultants in Orange County saw their third consecutive year of billings increases, buoyed by government and commercial work, as well as the end of litigation pertaining to a number of long-delayed sites in the area.
The 30 firms on this year’s list combined for about $509 million in local billings for the year ended Dec. 31, a 5% increase over the nearly $484 million the prior year.
Companywide environmental billings last year jumped 13% to $11.4 billion, while the combined local employees of the 30 companies came in at about 3,150, a drop-off of about 1%.
The list ranks environmental consulting companies based on billings generated from OC offices.
Sixteen of the companies reported increases in local billings, 10 said OC billings dropped from the previous year and four are Business Journal estimates.
Environmental consultants help clients adhere to regulations related to commercial development and other projects. Services range from dealing with contaminated land to conducting environmental risk assessments on projects and devising programs to comply with environmental regulations.
The companies on the list specialize in a variety of business lines, such as helping clients with air and water quality permits, industrial cleanup and sustainable design, which can incorporate storm water and waste management and the use of recycled materials in construction.
2018 Notables
Among notable developments is an absence of what was consistently one of the top performers in OC—CH2M Cos.—from the list.
The Englewood, Colo.-based company was acquired in 2017 by Dallas-based Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., whose officials told the Business Journal last September that the company’s combined Orange County office was prepping to “explode” with new work, but has not disclosed the amount of recent environmental work in that office.
• Tetra Tech Inc. in Irvine took the top spot on the list with $64.5 million in local billings last year, an 11% jump from 2017, and a 16% jump in OC employees to 192. Companywide billings increased 33% to $2.9 billion.
• Miller Environmental Inc., a local firm based in Orange that nudged its way into the top five last year, moved even higher on the list this year due to a drop in business from AECOM. Miller came in at No. 3 with an estimated $47 million in billings and 100 employees. AECOM was No. 4 with $44.5 million.
• TRC Cos. in Irvine more than doubled its OC billings to $39 million, the largest billings gain of all 30 companies at No. 5. It added three employees to 138 and is looking to add more, according to its website. Its Von Karman office is one of 140 in its portfolio, with over 5,000 total employees.
• Santa Ana-based TAIT & Associates, No. 10, saw the largest jump in OC employment, with its staff increasing 23% to 85 last year. Local billings are also on the rise, jumping 16% to $17 million, about half of its companywide total.
• Of the companies on the list that saw a drop in OC billings last year, No. 27 Ninyo & Moore reported the largest drop of 29% to $3.7 million, though its local staff rose 3.8% to 136.
OC Takeaways
Growth in the region has largely been driven by a freeing up of sites that had previously been wrapped up in litigation, said Ed Battle, vice president of Jacob & Hefner Associates, which focuses on remediation of contaminated sites.
This has been happening in Southern California in the past three years, Battle said, echoing regional growth trends.
“For decades, a lot of sites in Orange County and Southern California had been under litigation or stalled, and we are getting to the point where we can do our job, and get into the remediation process,” Battle said.
Battle helps lead the Irvine office of Illinois-based Jacob & Hefner, which had local billings of $13 million last year, up 12% from 2017 and representing 75% of its companywide billings. It ranked No. 13 on the list, up three spots from a year ago.
“Our clients are made up of primarily aerospace. Our public side has grown as well, and we are doing more work with the Navy, though we haven’t done any of the bases here in Orange County,” Battle said.
Local employment rose 23% to 64 people last year, which Battle said is expected to continue to grow in 2019.
“We have already hired half a dozen people in Orange County this year,” Battle said.
Another growth factor? Simply that the “general public is becoming more environmentally conscious.”
Battle anticipates further gains to come from the sectors of storm water compliance and injection systems for treating groundwater.
“We see a need to help the municipalities and private sectors with waste water treatment, so that is something we will be going after,” Battle said.
