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Landscape architecture and urban design firm Walker Macy has announced its new status as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) in Oregon and also in Seattle, where the company has a second office. Walker Macy, one of the largest landscape architecture businesses in Portland, is headed by Chelsea McCann, a managing principal and the majority owner.

The transition process, Marketing Director Paul Dickow said, began around 10 years ago. That was when founder Doug Macy and other leaders were looking toward retirement, and thinking about who would take over the company. Then-majority owner Mike Zillis was looking to scale down his involvement, and McCann was a natural choice to take over leadership.

鈥淏ecoming a WBE is all part of that transition,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s more of an acknowledgment of who Walker Macy is than anything else.鈥�

A Women Business Enterprise certification is for a qualifying business seeking opportunities for state, county and city government and special jurisdiction (e.g., hospitals and universities) contracts, according to Business Oregon.

Walker Macy becoming a WBE makes a statement about where the firm and the industry are headed, McCann said, with people of different backgrounds increasingly entering the field and leadership roles. Since many Portland firms were started in the 1970s, many of those roles are changing hands these days, she said.

鈥淲e’re seeing much more diverse leadership, which is really exciting,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was important to me as part of who we are and who we become.鈥�