PBS Engineering and Environmental Acquires HDJ Design Group
Portland, Oregon, March 25, 2016 (Newswire.com) - PBS Engineering and Environmental Inc. (PBS) and HDJ Design Group (HDJ), two locally-grown consulting firms, are combining forces to offer clients a greater scale of capabilities and reinvestment in the engineering communities of both Oregon and Washington.
The Portland-headquartered consulting firm has announced that it is officially acquiring southwest Washington-based HDJ, effective April 1, 2016. This acquisition allows PBS to expand its geographic reach and provide a more extensive range of services to its clients.
Bringing our firms together allows both companies to offer a wider range of comprehensive services, deepens our engineering capabilities, gives us better geographic coverage, increased manpower, and the ability to service more client needs in-house.
Mark Leece, PBS Principal Engineer
“Because we complement each other’s expertise and our cultures are compatible, combining our talented teams makes perfect sense,” said Guy Neal, President of PBS. “We’re building upon 15 years of collaboration between our firms, most recently working together on the major Vancouver Waterfront Development.”
The $1.5 billion Vancouver Waterfront Development, located along the Columbia River, seeks to develop a former industrial property into prime retail and recreational space for the City of Vancouver while serving as an extension of the downtown core’s reconnection to the waterfront.
“The scale and sheer complexity of the project allowed our two firms the opportunity to fully harmonize our capabilities,” said Gregory Jellison, Principal Engineer of HDJ. “While HDJ worked on the entire master plan and infrastructure design, PBS was able to run right alongside us, offering seamless geotechnical engineering and environmental services.”
Lead developer, Gramor Development, recently weighed-in on the integrated approach the two firms have used on the project. “HDJ and PBS have demonstrated as if they are under one roof when working on multidisciplinary projects. Both teams deliver plans and documents in a timely manner, with minimal review time by jurisdictions due to the completeness of such plans and the rapport their staff have with the jurisdictions,” noted Matt Grady, Vice President of Project Development for Gramor. “The civil and survey services from HDJ have been paired with the geotechnical and environmental services from PBS to provide a seamless approach to infrastructure improvements and soil investigations.”
Currently, while PBS specializes in geotechnical, environmental, and industrial hygiene services, HDJ mainly provides civil engineering, planning, and land surveying services. Combining these two exemplary firms, which offer 60 years of experience together, allows both to expand their market share within the engineering industry.
“We’re particularly excited about positive impacts this will have on both existing and prospective clients,” said Mark Leece, Principal of Engineering at PBS. “Bringing our firms together allows both companies to offer a wider range of comprehensive services, deepens our engineering capabilities, gives us better geographic coverage, increased manpower, and the ability to service more client needs in-house.”
Besides offering more services to its client base, the merger will also allow for better opportunities to invest in the local community.
“We will continue to strengthen relationships with STEM programs regionally, as well as our engineering internship programs in Oregon and Washington. We believe these efforts are critical to fostering the development of engineers from grade school, on,” Neal said. “Science and engineering play a critical role in U.S. competitiveness. Education and industry need to work together to create a new generation of engineers; this merger will allow PBS to support this effort on a greater scale.”
In 2016, the firm will begin offering a shadow program for young engineers, increasing the number of interns they are able to accommodate in both states.
“We are proud to be a part of the engineering community,” Neal said. “We are excited about the new opportunities to engage with the industry as a whole during this exciting new chapter in our company’s history.”
ABOUT PBS ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL
Since 1982, PBS’ nimble, multi-discipline teams have provided engineered solutions that balance compliance, sustainability, and practical design. PBS’ core service areas include engineering, environmental, industrial hygiene, planning, and natural resource consulting for public and private clients.
ABOUT HDJ DESIGN GROUP
HDJ Design Group has been providing civil engineering, planning, land surveying, and landscape architecture services for the past 36 years in the Pacific Northwest. The firm has offices located in Walla Walla and Pasco, as well as its headquarters in Vancouver, Washington. Clients served include both private and public, such as the cities of Vancouver and Walla Walla, Clark County Public Works, Grant County PUD, Columbia Waterfront, and Aho Construction.
WEBSITE
http://www.pbsenv.com
