Published January 2005

W&H Pacific sees its
market base growing
in Snohomish County

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT W&H Pacific in Bothell is anticipating an increasing amount of engineering, surveying and land development work in Snohomish County. Looking over maps of land parcels are, left to right, Randy Blair, senior project manager; Nicole Hernandez, project engineer; and Richard Reis, vice president of operations.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Snohomish County is shaping up as a prime market for W&H Pacific, an engineering and land development business that moved to Bothell from Bellevue in 1998, thanks to more population and business growth in the county.

“Traditionally, we’ve done a lot of work in King County, but we’ve been working in the county more and more since our move. Due to the Growth Management Act, people moving north for homes and more businesses coming to the area, we believe Snohomish County is going to be a key part of our continuing growth,” said Richard Reis, the firm’s vice president of operations.

The company has participated for years in major Snohomish County projects, including Paine Field road and hangar development, road work for Snohomish County government, home sites for Quadrant Homes, work for Boeing at its Everett plant and projects for the cities of Monroe, Everett, Mukilteo, Mountlake Terrace and Lake Stevens. Also, the firm’s senior project manager, Randy Blair, serves on the board of directors of the Snohomish County Economic Development Council.

Although the firm’s target markets are cyclical, responding to the shifting client base has worked out well for the company, which has grown from 100 people in 1988 to 300 now, including the 70 at headquarters in Bothell’s Monte Villa business park. The company’s best year was in 2003, and 2004 was equally strong, Reis said.

The company, an independent subsidiary of Alaska’s ASCG Inc., has offices in Bothell, Sumner, Olympia and Spokane, as well as in Portland, Salem, Bend, Klamath Falls and Boise, staffed by planners, engineers, surveyors and landscape architects.

Until recently, the firm also was offering telecom engineering services but sold that division in late November to Sparling, an electrical engineering and technology consulting firm in Lynnwood, with offices in Seattle.

“Telecommunications and technology have evolved to the point that the industry is now more aligned with electrical engineering and technology firms than with civil engineering,” said Bill Jabs, principal in charge of W&H Pacific. “Sparling has an outstanding reputation and we knew they would provide a great home for our employees and clients. This move will allow us to focus more on our core business of transportation, land development and surveying.”

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