Herrera Environmental Consultants
Specialty: Civil and environmental engineering; environmental science and planning
Management: Michael Spillane, president; Carol Slaughterbeck, executive vice president; Theresa Wood, CFO
Founded: 1980
Headquarters: Seattle
2009 revenues: $12.9 million
Projected 2010 revenues: $12.9 million
Current projects: Toxic-loading study for the Department of Ecology; a levee removal and estuary restoration on Port Susan Bay; master planning for a 10.2 million-square-foot development on the Wusong River outside Shanghai
Image by SWA Group Longmu Bay is a 2-square-mile beach resort under construction on Hainan Island in southeastern China. Herrera prepared a sustainability systems analysis for the master plan. The resort will support more than 40,000 tourists and residents.
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Go to the website of Herrera Environmental Consultants and you’ll find a list of the 83 different services the firm provides, from wildlife studies to hazardous materials compliance monitoring.
That sounds like a lot for a firm with 120 employees — akin to a cafe with a 20-page menu — but Herrera hasn’t endured by taking a scattershot approach to its work.
Over the past eight years, said President Michael Spillane, Herrera has homed in on three practice areas: water/water quality, restoration/conservation and sustainable development. The choices reflect what clients need and what’s getting funded.
Good impressions
With more firms chasing fewer projects these days, Herrera tries to differentiate itself by providing good service, Spillane said.
The challenge of making a good impression keeps the firm on its toes. Public agencies like King County and Seattle Public Utilities are doing more work in-house and, even when using outside consultants, are serving as integral members of the project team.
“Those individuals are really smart,” Spillane said, which puts pressure on Herrera not merely to perform well for those clients, but to be exceptional. Part of its preparation involves only going after projects it knows about in advance.
“Putting together a marginal proposal in this environment is compromising,” he said. It can hurt a firm’s credibility.
Following the money
Herrera goes after business by focusing on its core competencies and paying close attention to funding cycles. Sources can be municipal, state, private, federal or tribal, and the funds themselves may be allocated year-to-year or rely on bonds or other mechanisms. International work provides another flow of income.
Recent projects have included a toxic-loading study for the state Department of Ecology, a levee removal and estuary restoration on Port Susan Bay, and master planning for a 10.2 million-square-foot development on the Wusong River outside Shanghai.
Spillane was particularly pleased the firm recently secured several on-call contracts with King County’s Water and Land Resources Division, winning the work over several larger firms.
“It was a defining moment,” he said. “We aligned ourselves with our client, gave them the best service and hit the mark. It paid off because we continue to do work with them.”
Despite stubbornly high unemployment rates, Spillane said it’s been taking longer to fill open positions. The firm needs employees with specific skill sets, he said, and qualified people “that may have looked for jobs in the past may be hunkering down now.”