Herrera Environmental Consultants

Specialty: Environmental engineering, services and planning for public sector projects, such as utilities and transportation
Principals: Walter Trial, Carlos Herrera, Michael Spillane, Carol Slaughterbeck, Mark Ewbank, Peter Jowise, Art Campbell and Kittie Ford
Founded: 1980
2002 revenues: $7 million
Projected 2003 revenues: More than $7.5 million

Herrera Environmental Consultants went through a growth spurt last year, hiring about 15 people to beef up its staff to 87.

The growth is expected to continue in 2003, just not at such a rapid rate, according to Carlos Herrera. The company principal anticipates increasing staff by about 5 percent this year.

Fueling last year’s growth was a backlog of work, despite cutbacks at the state Department of Transportation. Due to the 5-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase that Washington lawmakers approved this spring, Herrera expects transportation work to pick up again.

‘A lot of our work is more related to the funding of public projects. I think we’ve seen the bottom of that.’ -- Carlos Herrera, Herrera Environmental Consultants

Also growing is the company’s rivers group, which conducts habitat and restoration work, including engineered logjams, migration zones analysis and fluvial geomorphology studies, or how rivers interact with the earth. It’s the Endangered Species Act that is spurring the growth along with the company adding staff with that expertise, Herrera said.

Locally, Herrera has contracts with the city of Seattle and King County.

Among other tasks for Seattle, Herrera is working on the comprehensive plan for the Public Utilities’ drainage division. The company’s evaluating outfalls, including underwater inspections. Herrera handles the diving duties in house.

Herrera’s working on one of the region’s largest public works projects: the more than $1 billion Brightwater wastewater treatment plant for the county. Herrera staff is working on the siting and conveyance teams. Also for the county, the company’s working on the Green-Duwamish River water quality study and doing work at the Cedar Hills Landfill.

Other clients include the U.S. Forest Service in Montana and the Montana Department of Transportation. Herrera has an office in Missoula.

Among other clients of the company, which also has a Portland office, are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Highway Administration and the General Services Administration.

“I think we’ve seen the bottom of the recession and things are gong to start looking up,” Herrera said. “A lot of our work is more related to the funding of public projects. I think we’ve seen the bottom of that.”