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PAE is expanding its Oregon presence to meet growing demand for engineering work.

The Portland-based mechanical and electrical engineering firm this spring opened an office in Eugene, at 1158 High St., with two employees and another on the way, PAE President Paul Schwer said. The firm’s other offices are in Seattle and San Francisco.

The Eugene office will help PAE keep up with work opportunities in the Eugene area and Southern Oregon, Schwer said. These include an upcoming renovation of Eugene City Hall and projects for the Eugene School District, Lane Community College and Southern Oregon University in Ashland.

Another factor in the decision to expand into Eugene was the opportunity to hire mechanical engineer Jack Yousey and electrical engineer Michael Ware, Schwer said. Another mechanical engineer will join them in a month or two, he said.

“A couple really talented engineers said, ‘We’d like to work for PAE, but we’d like to work (in Eugene),’ ” Schwer said. “Some offices you plan and some offices come about because you’ve got work and talented engineers.”

Unlike other engineering firms, PAE didn’t expand into Eugene because of work for the University of Oregon, Schwer said. PAE has worked on projects at the university’s Eugene campus and would like to pursue more, but other nearby development has kept the firm’s engineers busy, he said.

“There’s plenty of work down there with clients we want to work with,” he said.