Texas 2010 Rank: No. 8
Market, Rank: Hazardous Waste, Industrial, No. 2, Water Supply, No. 4

Leaders of Texas operations for CH2M HILL, an international engineering and environmental construction firm, credit its diversity, experience in sustainability and nimbleness in responding to changing trends with contributing to a solid 2009. It had about $91 million in regional revenue.

Photo: CH2M HILL

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“We’ve adapted by managing costs,” says Mike Lucchesi, Houston-area manger for CH2M HILL.

CH2M HILL entered the Texas market in 1970. With 200 offices worldwide, it can send infrastructure projects to low-cost areas such as India. It has Texas offices including Fort Worth, Dallas and El Paso.

“We can leverage a huge technical bench and financing on the construction side yet be local and live in the communities we serve” says James Dwyer, Austin-area manager.

The Austin office provides engineering for photovoltaic and renewable energy services. It is working on an ARRA-funded, $32-million Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant.

In Houston, the focus is on industrial energy and chemical, water and transportation. The state recently opened the possibility of using CMat-risk and design-build delivery for horizontal projects. Lucchesi says this will create opportunities for new transit and water jobs. CH2M HILL is providing CM-at-risk services for a 9-million-gallon-per-day surface-water treatment plant for Sugar Land. “Our market drivers are higher than the current economic winds,” Dwyer says. He adds that managing the state’s water resources will grow in importance, and a “lot of construction will come out of moving water.”