The Pacific Northwest is the heart of Parametrix.

For more than 50 years, the company has been a mainstay of the region’s construction industry. When the company launched in 1969, it was based in Sumner, Wash., and focused primarily on wastewater. Today, the firm has about a dozen offices across the typical geographies—Seattle, Portland, Tacoma and Boise—but also smaller locations in places such as Spokane, Puyallup, Bremerton, Eugene and Bend.

“It is important to be physically present in the geographies where you are doing a significant amount of work and have a personal connection to the community and clients you work with,” says Roger Flint, the company’s COO.

And that’s the differentiator for a design firm that grew Northwest revenue more than 30% in 2023 to $142 million, making it one of the largest design firms operating in the region.

“The size and scale of the work we do has been a key factor” in the firm’s growth, Flint says. “I always describe us as big enough to go after projects of regional significance but still small enough to not get in our own way.”

That approach was evident in 2019, when Parametrix was tapped to rebuild Newport Avenue in Bend, Ore.

“Our Bend office spent a lot of time listening to the community,” says Richard Roche, senior vice president of Oregon and Idaho. “Our people live there. They are vested to make the community better. Our employees are participating in a more significant level than you typically would.”

“Parametrix brings numerous things to the table besides their technical excellence,” says Greg Johnson, program administrator for IBR. “They also bring a local knowledge of this region. Folks who live here know the politics of this region is tremendously important on a project like this. They have folks who are caring, dedicated and go above and beyond to make the client happy and get things done.”

Flint spends up to three days a week working on IBR, and Parametrix CEO John Willis is still involved with the project. “Those guys show up,” Johnson says. “They ask good questions, they make sure their team is meeting our needs. Those things are critical. This is my first experience with them, and I am tremendously impressed. They like to say they punch above their weight class. They do.”

Johnson says Parametrix is full of “intensely smart and knowledge people” who are well-connected, something he doesn’t typically see from firms of their size. And that helps on a project with at least a dozen different partners, including two states, federal agencies, multiple cities, transit agencies and multiple counties. Johnson credits Parametrix with helping get the project toward a modified locally preferred alternative thanks to wise counsel and diplomacy.

Not only does Parametrix have the chance to showcase skills on a major project, but with so many partners, Roche says it helps raise the firm’s profile. “What it is really doing is offering us continued opportunities to partner with a lot of different clients,” he says. “When you look down the road, relationships with a lot of local and state clients are going to be deeper.”

The IBR has a bit of everything, from a nationally significant bridge to roundabouts, transit, roadway and drainage. “The thing I think is a lot of fun is the complexity of it,” Flint says. “While it has all the elements every other project would have, it is escalated to the nth degree. If it was easy, anybody could do it.”

Parametrix provided engineering and environmental services to Multnomah County as part of the seismic retrofit of the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Ore.
Photo courtesy Parametrix

Working Together

In Portland, Emily Miletich, engineering services manager of Multnomah County’s transportation division, says the accessibility, responsiveness and understanding of Parametrix has proven valuable as they plan for a new Burnside Bridge. “Their team checks in on project progress on a regular basis and elevates issues as they arise,” she says. “Their teams have deep technical knowledge and are just overall very warm, friendly people to work with.”

Miletich credits Parametrix with helping get the team through the NEPA environmental review and handling the needs of multiple agencies. “They present their research and findings in a way that helps facilitate quick, durable decision-making and supports alignment with agency goals and values,” she says. “Helping the team reach consensus requires flexibility, patience and proactive management of the team’s focus.”

Darby Watson, greater Washington region vice president for Parametrix, believes those client services allow the firm to build trust and grow. “We will often get repeat work because we have built such a good relationship with them,” she says. “We will bring the right sub or team member. We are pretty easy going. We are not trying to grab all the work, we want to do the right thing for the client.”

In Vancouver, Wash., Parametrix recently solved a major issue for the port, which has been working since 1998 on a groundwater cleanup project. The project stalled when the state’s ecology department said it needed to wait on other parties.

Instead, Parametrix worked with ecology and the state’s Dept. of Justice to work out an agreement that allowed the port to break out its portion of the project, proceed on cleanup and get closure on critical issues.

Not only did it save the port $1 million, but it also gave them certainty on potential liabilities. “When people tell us we can’t do something, the hairs on my neck stand up,” Roche says.

“I think we are really successful in thinking of alternatives that the client may not be considering,” Roche says. “We think ahead for things our clients may not know.”

Flint says the mix of large and small projects shows that Parametrix has the goal of being the go-to engineering firm for every client. “We spend a lot of time thinking through what the right team is to bring to the client,” he says. “If you bring your best to bear and provide a really good mix of skill sets, it makes for stronger relationships in the future when you go after other projects.”

Parametrix has seen heavy growth in transportation and environmental projects, by-products, Flint says, of where the dollars are currently running.

The firm is also seeing growth in data center work for some of the biggest companies in the space, handling everything from site due diligence to civil work on projects 10 times the size of a Costco store. Construction management offers a relatively new growth opportunity, something that has come from client needs.

Team Players

Watson credits the employees for making it happen. “As a 100% employee-owned company, it really attracts and retains our talent,” she says. “We have a very flat structure. People come to Parametrix and pursue what they want to pursue. I think that has been a really winning approach to how we do our work.”

Contributing to that winning approach are a word-of-mouth growth strategy, the fact that Parametrix doesn’t shy away from any project and its willingness to partner with larger or smaller firms to add expertise as needed. Watson says the recent fish passage work with WSDOT offers an example of “really hitting some high notes on getting that work done when [WSDOT was] really in a pinch and other firms couldn’t complete it and we were able to.”

The firm’s flat structure means everyone is wearing the same jersey, and when a project is important to the firm, it is important to everyone, Watson says. On the fish passage effort, that meant at any point they could get folks from varying regions to jump in and help without infighting. “We are all on the same page, trying to keep clients happy,” she says. “We are the kind of firm where everybody drops what they are doing and jumps in and helps.”

Roche agrees. “We are a nice company, and we like nice people who work hard and solve hard problems,” he says. “We don’t compete with each other.” Being employee-owned has also helped attract mid-career and senior employees looking for the additional compounding value.

Karl Otterstrom, chief planning and development officer for Spokane Transit, says Parametrix is “brilliant at the basics,” from quality outputs to project management fundamentals. “This sort of foundation makes for a satisfying partnership and cost-effective outcome,” he says.

On the Division Street project in Spokane, Otterstrom says Parametrix facilitated an evaluation process that resulted in a project that gained support quickly from leadership. Their competency and breadth of experience, he says, allowed for a swift movement toward project development and grants needed to make the project work.

Roche says the firm treats clients as friends. He knows that every time you ask for a change order or more money, the client has to ask someone else. “Their success is dependent on our ability to deliver projects,” he says. “Changes happen, but we are helping stay ahead of the curve.”