Architect/Engineers

Heery's shift to public work pays off in slow market

Directly relating to the economic downturn of the last few years, work for many A/E firms has gone from mostly private sector jobs to a majority of public projects, observes James Moynihan, president and CEO of Heery International, Atlanta.

Heery's shift to more public work, especially state and local government projects, has paid off for the 1,100-person firm. Revenue was up 27% last year, catapulting the company to third place on our annual ranking of A/E firms.

"Our work has changed in the last several years from 45% to 50% private to 60% public," Moynihan says. "We saw [the market downturn] coming in the early '90s and purposely structured our plan and strategy to respond to what our clients needed; to make sure that we had a mix of clients by market, geographic location and types."

According to Moynihan, the attacks of Sept. 11 haven't allowed the private industry to recover from the economic downturn, while many buildings in the public sector are in dire need of renovation or replacement, creating an influx of projects.

Moynihan projects that the economy will stabilize in the third and fourth quarters this year and that the company's 2002 revenue will reach last year's level — the highest in its 50-year history.

The firm regularly conducts research on its markets, where they are headed and how the firm can best respond to rapid changes.

"We pride ourselves on being ahead of the market," Moynihan says. "If you want to be successful in any marketplace, you've got to be there before everyone else."

Heery, which also provides program management, construction management at risk and facility scheduling services, is currently involved in approximately 780 projects worldwide. A sample of its current public work includes the National Archives, Washington, D.C., five schools for the Houston Independent School District and Oak Ridge Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.