Specialty: Waterfront projects, habitat restoration
1999 Revenues: $2 million
Projected 2000 Revenues: $3 million
Anchor Environmental emerged in late 1997 after three environmental scientists left their senior positions at larger Northwest firms to form their own company.
More power was not the goal, said David Templeton, one of the original founders of Anchor, which is now managed by six partners. Rather, the seasoned scientists wanted to shed their "senior staff" status -- plus the associated administrative duties -- and get back to hands-on environmental work.
"Our business cards don't have titles," Templeton said. "People get stuck on titles, and that's part of being big. We didn't want to create that system."
Waterfront work is Anchor's niche. A diverse staff of planners, scientists and engineers at the firm collaborate to offer services including habitat restoration and mitigation, wetland evaluation and design, dredging and disposal planning and design, coastal engineering services, CADD, sediment assessment and remediation and Endangered Species Act support.
Three years after its debut, Anchor is still a small firm. Nonetheless, its staff of 20 is involved in some of the state's largest projects.
Sound Transit hired Anchor to manage permitting for its Everett-Seattle commuter rail segment; and the firm is working with Parametrix and People for Puget Sound to provide sediment quality and coastal engineering services for the Tahoma Salt Marsh project in Tacoma.
Anchor is also working with Floyd & Snider on a pilot project for the Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing and Industrial Center. On that project, Anchor staff will provide technical assistance on sediment quality criteria, sediment remediation, maintenance dredging, and ESA compliance.
Size doesn't limit the firm's territory either. Staff are busy with projects nationwide, as well as in South America and Southeast Asia. Templeton says e-mail and the Internet help bring Anchor closer to many out-of-state projects, although staff do travel.
New to the firm is a landscape architecture component. Anchor hired landscape architect Peter Hummel to handle design issues associated with habitat restoration projects, cleanups and minimizing shorelines impacts of new construction.
Templeton said marrying landscape design with science allows Anchor to offer a holistic approach to waterfront projects.
Combining landscape design with environmental science can cut costs in the long run, according to Templeton.
A large challenge facing the company is maintaining its "small firm" culture. Templeton said it's critical to the six partners that the firm operates on a human-scale, even as Anchor tackles large projects worldwide.
"Smaller firms are doing well because a lot of clients are interested in hiring people, rather than a huge firm, for projects," Templeton said. "We're putting together the 'A-Team' for environmental work, and that means controlled growth, hiring quality people."
Templeton said Anchor plans to open more offices as needed, but stressed that smart growth -- versus fast growth -- is key to the firm's success.