U.S. engineering firms set sail for foreign ports

Engineering firms and engineering/architecture firms—those that earn more than 50% of their revenues from engineering—have their sights set on foreign shores. Many are jumping headfirst into international waters.

“Instead of overseeing projects from New York, our firm has established offices in Mumbai, Moscow, and other cities outside North America, aiming to overcome the challenge of navigating the local landscape or hiring practices, tax law, and business practices,” says Thomas Z. Scarangello, PE, CEO and Chairman of EA Giant Thornton Tomasetti.

Other firms are just dipping their toes into foreign waters, still looking for international business but choosing not to establish additional offices. Brad Harmsen, AIA, Chairman/CEO of BRPH, says that although his firm is actively working in locales across the globe, they’re partnering with domestic firms to do so, partly because of “the learning curve that comes when working with different currencies and legalities.”

SCROLL DOWN FOR GIANTS 300 ENGINEERING & ENGINEERING/ARCHITECTURE FIRM RANKINGS

Shanghai and Dubai are hot spots for E and EA Giants these days. Glumac, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, and Syska Hennessy Group have opened or expanded their offices in Shanghai. KJWW and Syska Hennessy opened new offices in Dubai. Thornton Tomasetti bucked the trend and opened offices in Beijing and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while Arup Americas opened new offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, just in time for soccer’s World Cup in 2014.

Establishing an office abroad is one thing; getting the business is something entirely different. Referring specifically to the Middle East, Paul VanDuyne, PE, president of KJWW, says, “It takes approximately two years to develop the appropriate relationships, name recognition, and reputation to be successful in obtaining projects in this region.”

Despite the difficulties, an increasingly large share of engineering Giants’ yearly revenue is coming from international projects. Magnusson Klemencic President Ron Klemencic, PE, SE, says that 20-30% of MKA’s gross revenue comes from international business, while KJWW anticipates that 10% of its 2013 revenue will come from international projects. Syska Hennessy Group’s goal is to beef up its international activity by 25% over the next five years.

KEY ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

Beyond establishing an international presence, technology is also a crucial differentiator for E and EA Giants firms.

Syska Hennessy Group’s new Information and Communications Technology group is offering an expanded scope of services for organizations looking to upgrade their IT platforms with the latest technologies. “Our new offerings include tools and expertise to apply virtualization of existing client environments, data center relocation management, disaster recovery and IT security services, and network and Internet/intranet design and implementation,” said Co-CEO/Co-president Cyrus J. Izzo, PE.

Thornton Tomasetti launched a new Building Sustainability practice in January and now offers LEED consulting and administration, energy and daylight modeling, and sustainable business strategies. The firm also has an advanced computational modeling team; it leverages new technologies by developing custom digital tools that utilize generative and parametric modeling, which enables its engineers to collaborate more effectively with architects in the early phases of design.

HELPING CLIENTS FIND THE MONEY FOR PROJECTS

New financing solutions are also playing a part in E/EA Giants’ business strategies. With the U.S. construction market still in recovery, alternative financing methods are being sought out to help clients put together the dollars they need to complete projects.

At Syska Hennessy Group, public-private partnerships are on the radar. “We are observing an increase in P3 projects across geographies and market sectors,” said Syska Hennessy Group’s Izzo. “The first building being delivered as a true P3 is the Long Beach courthouse in California, which will top out this summer.”

Others are bringing on experts to find the money. Graef hired an economic development specialist, Ronald Van Straten, who has more than 25 years’ experience in helping mostly municipal clients seek grants, low-cost loans, and other funding streams for their capital projects, including tax increment financing.

HEAVY CONCENTRATION AT THE TOP 10 FIRMS

As is true of most of the categories in our Giants 300 rankings, there is a great deal of concentration at the highest level in the E and EA markets. The top 10 engineering firms generated 47% of total revenue for the category, while the top 10 engineering/architecture Giants generated a hefty 85% of the dollars in their group. +

ENGINEERING FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Total Revenue ($)
1	Fluor Corp.	220,674,900
2	Arup	140,324,134
3	WSP USA	98,900,000
4	Syska Hennessy Group	98,744,701
5	Affiliated Engineers	92,815,000
6	KPFF Consulting Engineers	89,000,000
7	Henderson Engineers	61,266,000
8	AKF Group	58,100,000
9	TTG/TMAD Taylor & Gaines	56,820,300
10	Smith Seckman Reid	53,497,000
11	R.G. Vanderweil Engineers	49,823,500
12	KJWW Engineering Consultants	43,784,892
13	Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers	40,100,000
14	Coffman Engineers	37,200,000
15	TLC Engineering for Architecture	36,387,033
16	Degenkolb Engineers	35,398,917
17	Sebesta Blomberg	35,120,000
18	ESD/Environmental Systems Design	34,465,000
19	Rolf Jensen & Associates	34,300,000
20	Walter P Moore	34,231,775
21	RMF Engineering	34,005,000
22	Glumac	33,010,927
23	Magnusson Klemencic Associates	32,306,973
24	RDK Engineers	30,882,000
25	Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch	28,836,967
26	Aon Fire Protection Engineering	28,200,000
27	Birdsall Services Group	27,500,000
28	Interface Engineering	25,938,485
29	M/E Engineering	25,915,000
30	ccrd partners	24,100,000
31	H.F. Lenz Co.	22,799,000
32	Heapy Engineering	21,402,816
33	Sparling	20,589,847
34	ThermalTech Engineering	19,890,000
35	KCI Technologies	19,761,000
36	Newcomb & Boyd	18,454,021
37	Henneman Engineering	18,000,000
38	Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Eng.	17,650,492
39	GHT Limited	17,363,705
40	Eaton Energy Solutions	16,694,769
41	Rutherford & Chekene	16,538,000
42	Dunham Associates	15,500,000
43	Joseph R. Loring & Associates	15,000,000
44	Wallace Engineering	13,780,000
45	James Posey Associates	13,500,000
46	KLH Engineers	12,559,382
47	Lilker Associates Consulting Engineers	12,500,000
48	Karpinski Engineering	12,343,996
49	P2S Engineering	11,896,229
50	RMH Group, The	11,864,683
51	Peter Basso Associates	10,400,000
52	Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering	10,039,000
53	French & Parrello Associates	9,782,762
54	Bala Consulting Engineers	9,360,000
55	Allen & Shariff	8,610,036
56	Wick Fisher White	7,821,928
57	Brinjac Engineering	7,342,166
58	CTLGroup	6,030,000
59	O’Dea, Lynch, Abbattista Consulting Engineers	5,900,000
60	FBA Engineering	4,000,000
61	Kamm Consulting	3,681,775
62	Apogee Consulting Group	2,485,000
63	G&W Engineering	2,058,000

ENGINEERING/ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Total Revenue ($)
1	Jacobs	2,699,100,000
2	AECOM Technology Corp.	1,487,000,000
3	M+W U.S.	1,015,199,252
4	Stantec	463,300,000
5	Parsons Brinckerhoff	311,300,000
6	URS Corp.	294,100,000
7	exp	205,000,000
8	Science Applications International Corp.	185,390,000
9	Merrick & Co.	111,000,000
10	Day & Zimmermann	109,909,604
11	SSOE Group	107,819,740
12	STV	104,876,000
13	Thornton Tomasetti	98,017,214
14	Burns & McDonnell	94,711,826
15	Dewberry	89,282,766
16	Michael Baker Jr., Inc.	80,730,000
17	Middough	75,750,000
18	Clark Nexsen	68,424,208
19	Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates	64,080,000
20	Simpson Gumpertz & Heger	59,170,000
21	AKF Group	58,100,000
22	H&A Architects & Engineers	39,064,020
23	Walker Parking Consultants	34,422,898
24	BRPH	31,500,000
25	Bergmann Associates	30,700,000
26	Shive-Hattery	28,192,943
27	Atkins North America	23,620,537
28	Ross & Baruzzini	20,377,769
29	Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon	20,100,000
30	Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor	18,300,000
31	Guernsey	18,293,701
32	L.R. Kimball	17,759,000
33	GRAEF-USA	16,770,180
34	Zak Companies	12,335,494
35	CJL Engineering	12,228,000
36	Stanley Consultants	10,892,000
37	Spectrum Engineers	8,828,890
38	GRW	6,290,216
39	Davis, Bowen & Friedel	4,680,714
40	Vintage Archonics	1,972,220

Across the country, multifamily rents have skyrocketed. Year-over-year rents are up by double digits in nine of the top 30 markets, while national YoY rent growth is up 6.3%. Emerging from the pandemic, a perfect storm of migration, enhanced government stimulus and a hot housing market, among other factors, has enabled this extremely strong growth.

AEC firm actions in light of Covid opening

AEC Business Innovation | Jul 11, 2021

Staffing, office changes at SCB, SmithGroup, RKTB, Ryan Cos., Jacobsen, Boldt, and Adolfson & Peterson

AEC firms take strategic action as construction picks up steam with Covid openings.

STEM High School Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) HorizonTV, LPA Architects

K-12 Schools | Jul 9, 2021

LPA Architects' STEM high school post-occupancy evaluation

LPA Architects conducted a post-occupancy evaluation, or POE, of the eSTEM Academy, a new high school specializing in health/medical and design/engineering Career Technical Education, in Eastvale, Calif. The POE helped LPA, the Riverside County Office of Education, and the Corona-Norco Unified School District gain a better understanding of which design innovations—such as movable walls, flex furniture, collaborative spaces, indoor-outdoor activity areas, and a student union—enhanced the education program, and how well students and teachers used these innovations.

Interior designer Creative License International fashioned this community room for P83, a 250-unit rental community in Peoria, Ariz. 2021 Multifamily Amenities study

Multifamily Housing | Jul 7, 2021

Make sure to get your multifamily amenities mix right

One of the hardest decisions multifamily developers and their design teams have to make is what mix of amenities they’re going to put into each project. A lot of squiggly factors go into that decision: the type of community, the geographic market, local recreation preferences, climate/weather conditions, physical parameters, and of course the budget. The permutations are mind-boggling.

Industrial Facilities | Jul 2, 2021

A new approach to cold storage buildings

Cameron Trefry and Kate Lyle of Ware Malcomb talk about their firm's cold storage building prototype that is serving a market that is rapidly expanding across the supply chain.