Two local consulting firms will soon become one as PBS Engineering and Environmental Inc. (PBS) plans to acquire HDJ Design Group (HDJ). The companies announced the acquisition on Wednesday, effective April 1.
According to Mark Leece, principal of engineering at PBS, combining the two firms allows both to expand their market share within the engineering industry.
PBS, which is headquartered in Portland with an office in Vancouver, provides geotechnical, environmental and industrial hygiene services. Vancouver-based HDJ specializes in civil engineering, planning and land surveying services, and has offices in Walla Walla and Pasco.
“We’re particularly excited about positive impacts this will have on both existing and prospective clients,” said Leece. “Bringing our firms together allows both companies to offer a wider range of comprehensive services, deepens our engineering capabilities, gives us better geographic coverage, increased manpower, and the ability to service more client needs in-house.”
“Because we complement each other’s expertise and our cultures are compatible, combining our talented teams makes perfect sense,” added Guy Neal, president of Portland-headquartered PBS. “We’re building upon 15 years of collaboration between our firms, most recently working together on the major Vancouver Waterfront Development.”
Gregory Jellison, principal engineer of Vancouver-based HDJ, said the scale and complexity of the $1.5 billion Vancouver Waterfront Development has allowed the two firms to fully harmonize their capabilities.
“While HDJ worked on the entire master plan and infrastructure design [of the Vancouver Waterfront Development], PBS was able to run right alongside us, offering seamless geotechnical engineering and environmental services,” said Jellison.
In addition to offering more services to its client base, Neal said the merger will allow for better opportunities to invest in the local community.
“We will continue to strengthen relationships with STEM programs regionally, as well as our engineering internship programs in Oregon and Washington,” he said. “We believe these efforts are critical to fostering the development of engineers from grade school, on.
“We are proud to be a part of the engineering community,” Neal added. “We are excited about the new opportunities to engage with the industry as a whole during this exciting new chapter in our company’s history.”
