{"id":446,"date":"2019-09-24T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T10:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/?p=446"},"modified":"2019-09-26T16:26:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T16:26:57","slug":"architecture-and-engineering-employment-continues-to-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/2019\/09\/24\/architecture-and-engineering-employment-continues-to-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Architecture and engineering employment continues to surge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architecture and engineering employment
continues to surge<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Alex Visser
\navisser@djcorprod.wpengine.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"arch-eng-story-620\"

John Howorth, right, president of 3J Consulting, conducts a walk-through of the firm\u2019s new 12,000-square-foot office space with JP Watson, an information technology project delivery manager with BridgeTech. Like other Portland-area architecture and engineering firms, 3J Consulting is continuing to grow several years after the end of the Great Recession.<\/p><\/div>\n

Stepping into the empty space of a new office packed with modern amenities and aesthetics, it\u2019s easy for John Howorth to reflect on his professional journey, which began in 2009 when he founded 3J Consulting, a civil engineering and community planning firm.<\/p>\n

At that point, during what Howorth described as the lowest point of the Great Recession, he was working alone in a 138-square-foot office smaller than many bedrooms. By the next year he was sharing the cramped space with two more employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where my head was at,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was a big, big struggle mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

As 3J Consulting celebrates its 10-year anniversary, the company boasts a team of more than 30 people eager to move into their new work space: a 12,000-square-foot office in Beaverton that will include a gym, shower and outdoor patio.<\/p>\n

Portland-area architecture and engineering firms are continuing to push forward in expanding their workforces and avenues of work, reflecting an industry trend of growth.<\/p>\n

A decade past a devastating recession that halted construction projects around the country, local architecture firms are hitting something of a peak. Many that survived the struggles of the last decade now find themselves larger than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy five years, I\u2019ll tell you that,\u201d said Natasha Koiv, a principal and staffing director at SERA Architects. \u201cWe are surprised that the housing market in Portland has continued to be as busy as it has been.\u201d<\/p>\n

SERA is one of several architecture firms looking to expand its portfolio and grasp on the Portland market. The company is now up to 164 employees, with 148 in Portland and 16 more in a new Oakland office. Seven years ago SERA had 85 employees.<\/p>\n

Development outside of the downtown area has led to more projects in Portland, Koiv said, but SERA is trying to diversify its portfolio outside of the Northwest. The firm has recently done some design and planning work for Stanford University and Google, and is hoping to add nine more employees to its Oakland office by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big effort now that we\u2019re over 160 people,\u201d Koiv said. \u201cWe\u2019re too big a firm now to be dependent upon whatever happens in the Oregon economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another local firm making big strides is LRS Architects, which has more than doubled its number of employees between 2012 and this year, from 61 to 135.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in a constant growth mode,\u201d Managing Principal Trish Nixon said. \u201cWe have everything from people right out of school to people in their 60s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like SERA, LRS has pushed to tackle new and diverse types of projects. The firm requires a range of employees whose experiences might be better suited for one assignment or another, Nixon said. Based on the competition LRS has had in hiring architects, she thinks that most other firms are experiencing similar growth patterns.<\/p>\n

ZGF Architects, one of Portland\u2019s most established architecture firms, has offices around the country and one in Canada, with 717 total employees. Less than two years ago the company had slightly more than 600 employees.<\/p>\n

According to the American Institute of Architects\u2019 Architectural Billing Index, the number of billings and design contracts each decreased in only one month going back to August 2018.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean another recession isn\u2019t coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s one on the way; we just don\u2019t know when,\u201d Howorth said. \u201cWe kind of take it as it comes, but we try to be positioned well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having already experienced a recession helps. Howorth said national leadership will have learned its lessons from a decade ago, and when another recession happens, it won\u2019t be as severe.<\/p>\n

Besides taking on new types of projects like those associated with transportation and public works, Howorth has worked to create a company culture that fosters retention. The workplace is flexible for employees with families or time commitments, and the new office\u2019s amenities were decided upon through a company survey.<\/p>\n

3J\u2019s reach has also extended to college campuses around the Northwest, where the company takes part in career fairs and other events. For the first time this year the firm has brought on several interns for summer work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came in and started talking in my little interview, I could just feel that everybody truly loved this company,\u201d administrative intern Lexie Sawin said. \u201cThey\u2019re able to be themselves here and enjoy the work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Architecture and engineering employmentcontinues to surge By Alex Visser avisser@djcorprod.wpengine.com Stepping into the empty space of a new office packed with modern amenities and aesthetics, it\u2019s easy for John Howorth to reflect on his professional journey, which began in 2009 when he founded 3J Consulting, a civil engineering and community planning firm. At that point, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18615],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}