Aspect Consulting

Specialty: Water resources, environmental, engineering geology, GIS/environmental data management
Partners: Tim Flynn, president; Mark Shaffer, Lori Herman, Doug Hillman, John Strunk, Erick Miller, Chip Goodhue and Steve Germiat
2002 revenues: $4 million
2003 revenues: $4.5 million
Founded: 2001
Location: Bainbridge Island and Seattle

Flynn

Despite the economic recession, Aspect Consulting recently opened an office in downtown Seattle in addition to its Bainbridge Island location and expanded from 20 to 35 employees. While the company’s main expertise lies in hydrology, it has expanded its services to include water resource engineering, remediation engineering and information management.

President Tim Flynn projects about 10 percent growth in 2003.

“There are a number of key factors driving the success we’ve had this year,” Flynn said. “The first is the diversity in clients we provide services to and relationships with clients engaged in long-term projects — work that isn’t directly impacted by shorter economic cycles.”

The firm is involved in a number of water resources projects throughout the West Coast, including contracts with the Port of Seattle. It is focusing on developing and maintaining long-term clients, cultivating key relationships with other specialty consultants, and attracting and keeping quality staff.

“We strive to be very progressive in our organizational structure,” Flynn said. “Everyone is involved and we offer opportunities to work on interesting projects. We have a high level of retaining staff and we hope to build on that.”

The firm is working with the Seattle Art Museum on the Olympic Sculpture Park cleanup and also King County as part of the Brightwater project team.

Other clients include the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Calpine Corp.

The firm works consistently with fee-based utility infrastructure and out-of-state projects. Partner Mark Shaffer said that water supply continues to maintain interest despite the struggling economy.

“Two specialty areas that appear promising for expanding water supplies are management of salt water intrusion in coastal areas and aquifer storage and recovery,” Shaffer said. “Our experience in the arid southwestern United States, where these practices are more common, is helping us introduce these technologies to the Northwest.”