Rushing

Specialty: MEP engineering and sustainability management
Management: Rae Anne Rushing, president/CEO
Founded: 2006
Headquarters: Seattle
2010 revenues: $3 million
Projected 2011 revenues: $3.7 million
Employees: 33
Current projects: 1519 Minor apartments; 1915 Second Ave. apartments; 2030 Eighth Ave. apartments; King County Maleng Regional Justice Center Courthouse remodel

Image courtesy of Rushing One of Rushing’s projects is the 1915 Second Ave. apartments in Seattle.

Rae Anne Rushing, co-founder of Rushing, is excited for the changes 2012 will bring. For one thing, she is leaving the company in her capacity as president and CEO and handing the reins to co-founder Scott Rushing.

Rae Anne Rushing is leaving to pursue a career in Rolfing, a form of bodywork that reorganizes connective tissues.

She will remain a principal and consultant. She also plans to be involved with the company through her new career. For the past three years, Rushing has brought a massage therapist into the office monthly. Once she is trained, Rushing will take over that role.

“I’ll always be involved with the company,” she said. “Scott will always use me as an advisor.”

Diversification pays off

When Rushing founded the company in 2006, her clients were mainly private developers of office buildings. Rushing said she immediately began to diversify the client base, seeking public work and mid- and low-rise residential projects. By the time office work came to a “crashing halt” in 2008, the firm’s other markets had started to be fruitful. Over the past two years, the firm has been fed by those markets, and by work in energy commissioning and sustainability.

Rushing said the company grew from two people in 2006 to 43 in 2009, but had to layoff 15 that year. Its work in mid- and low-rise residential projects, public work and energy services is allowing it to hire people back. The firm is in the process of hiring four people and could hire another four next year.

Revenues have been flat in recent years, though there was growth in 2011. This year, high-rise apartment projects picked up. Rushing said these projects are great because they hire all elements of the firm, from MEP work to LEED expertise to commissioning services.

Rushing expects more growth in 2012, due to traditional developer clients returning to the marketplace, and thinks it will be a good year.

“Your usual developers that haven’t been doing anything lately ... they’re starting to come back around and sniff and think about building when they haven’t been doing anything for two years,” she said. “I think what’s going to happen is now our revenue is going to bump up again because it’s going to overlay on top of this new market that we built.”

Rushing said private developers are doing conceptual and preliminary work. They’re trying to find pro formas that work so they can find a tenant and track down financing to build. Rushing is already working with multiple clients in this arena.

In 2012, Rushing believes developers will begin to lock down tenants.

Rushing thinks the firm might bump its revenue to $5 million in 2012, up from about $4 million in 2011. Revenue has remained fairly flat throughout the past years, she said. “I’m predicting a pretty good year.”

Energy sector picks up

Rushing is also excited about the firm’s energy-commissioning work, and believes it will pick up. Rushing had thought the work would really grow during the recession. It did, but only for public and nonprofit work because there was too much uncertainty for other owners. Now, she’s seeing private projects loosening up and interest coming from private and public clients.

If President Barack Obama gets re-elected, Rushing said the field will grow even more.

“The existing building stock is so big, I see that market as huge,” she said. “We will continue to develop that market and I would love to see that be a very big part of our diverse portfolio.”