Shannon & Wilson

“Business has been excellent this past year and we expect the next year to be good as well,” said J. Duncan Findlay, president and Seattle branch manager for Shannon & Wilson. The company continued its geographic expansion this year, opening an office in Denver, Colo.

Shannon & Wilson is currently evaluating expansion opportunities in other markets. There are currently 130 employees in the Seattle office, about the same as this time last year. The Seattle office projects $16 million in gross fees this year.

The geotechnical and environmental consulting firm is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Richland, Anchorage, Fairbanks, St. Louis and Denver. In downtown Seattle, projects this year included geotechnical design for Sound Transit's light rail and commuter rail, geotechnical engineering for the Experience Music Project, Fisher Plaza, the Washington State Convention and Trade Center expansion and the new Federal Court House.

“As many engineering firms in the area, we continue to face staffing challenges,” said Findlay. “Attracting and retaining good, qualified staff has been tough the past couple of years. It’s been an interesting challenge to market the company to prospective new employees and really define what sets us apart from the competition in terms of what we can offer our staff.”

He noted that increasingly in competition with other business sectors, mainly dot-coms and the financial industry, for engineering staff. “These pressures are driving our costs up,” he said.