Every industry has challenges, but these are the kind to have: more work than a firm can take on, and so much work firms can confidently turn it away. So much work, in fact, they can’t find enough trained, qualified people in the field. So much work that engineers – civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers – are in demand, making extremely good salaries. It’s good news for consultants, a tough but financially happy road for engineering companies, and it’s happening right now in Nevada.
Construction is integral to economic growth, and engineers are integral to construction. Demand is strong for engineering services, said James Duddlesten, president, G.C. Wallace Inc., with no slowdown in sight.
“Our role in the construction process is to prepare the plans that are used to construct the project. Our contribution is to provide the planning piece of the construction work that allows the contractor to mobilize and to do his portion, procure material and build the project,” said Tom Harris, president, Harris Consulting Engineers, Las Vegas.
Engineers can work directly for either an architect, a developer or a contractor. Generally, Harris said, they work with architects, but more and more Harris Consulting Engineers serves as a primary contractor in the process, sometimes working directly for contractors and hiring subs. “There are many different options on how to structure ways to deliver the project and we’ve probably done them all.”
Construction is a jigsaw puzzle: surveying the land for the best, least damaging use; mapping out flood control; designing and constructing the buildings. Engineers are among the first consulted at the start of any development.
“With the economy trying to encourage new industrial uses – warehousing and things like that – it ultimately falls back to the first step in the process – land acquisition, which is quite a challenge in [Southern Nevada],” said Ed Taney, president, Taney Engineering Corp, Las Vegas. The next step, he said, “is to get a hold of an engineer and an architect, and as long as the area is growing, the need for engineers will be growing as well.”
Engineering is also an integral step in residential construction. “”Without the streets, water services, sewer services and homes, people wouldn’t be able to move here,” said Kathy Smith, president, VPoint. VPoint is a planning, civil engineering and surveying firm with offices in Las Vegas, Reno and Fallon, which also works with public agencies such as the city of North Las Vegas on plan checking. When a firm needs an express plan-check done, the city contacts VPoint to turn it around in a week.
“Engineers have a great deal to do with how fast things get done, how fast they get approved and how fast they get built,” said Stuart Hitchens, vice president, Las Vegas operations, WRG Design, Inc.
And demand for engineering services across the state of Nevada is steadily increasing. Pete Blakely, president, Blakely Johnson & Ghusn Engineering & Architecture in Reno, said his firm has seen a 40 percent increase in 2004 over 2003.
Harris’ firm has seen very sustained and steady growth through the last 10 years. “Right now it looks like demand is accelerating. The number of proposals this year is more than double last year’s in terms of volume, and workload has increased 25 to 30 percent. It could be more than that because a lot of projects are still pending, but work for actually committed projects is up 30 percent.”
Engineering has become a hot career choice, with salaries going up and consultants almost able to write their own tickets. It’s great for individuals, but it’s hard on businesses.
“We’re having a particularly hard time finding civil engineers, because the housing market is so hot, firms that do a lot of residential projects are paying outrageous salaries to civil engineers,” said Blakely. “We haven’t had a problem getting work, but we have problems keeping enough bodies to meet our commitments.”
It’s not just finding the people – it’s keeping them once they’re found. Ed Taney has seen engineers lost to residential builders. “People are happy where they are, so it’s hard to entice people to your firm, and the flip side is you can lose staff because other people are paying astronomical wages. You’re constantly in a situation where you’ve taken on work based on current staff and then people leave, so you have the work, but not the people.”
With economies at both ends of the state looking to diversify and bring in new industries and new business, there’s a constant need to keep building and keep growing. There’s a land crunch at either end of the state and now there’s a personnel crunch as well. To meet the demand for their services, engineering firms have to find trained, talented, quality personnel.
Many firms are turning to placement agencies and headhunters, but some are taking matters into their own hands. Kathy Smith said VPoint has started a training program, hiring people who have the qualifications but perhaps not the experience to be able to jump right into the position VPoint has open,. “We bring them in and train them for a period of time. We’re also doing internships with the colleges, having students work part-time and then go to work for us when they get out of college,” said Smith.
Hitchens’ firm is successfully using referrals. WRG’s management team doesn’t want to target their competition’s resources – because they don’t like it happening to them – but when employees build relationships with colleagues in the field and spread the word about the good environment at WRG, they’re happy to hire friends of friends. And like VPoint, they’re willing to train if an engineer has the qualifications but not the experience.
“It’s a challenge, managing growth,” said Hitchens. “Not just taking work to take work. We are in demand. It’s a consultant’s market – it really is. We have to be careful not to take on so much we overburden our people and have them working too much and making mistakes. That takes longer in the end, and if you end up doing things twice, it’s not profitable anyway. If you try to do more work than you have people for, you burn out the people and disappoint the clients.”
Dennis Waibel, managing principal Las Vegas for Carter & Burgess, Inc., said his firm wants to move into more residential work, but lack of people is limiting its opportunities. The firm does civil, mechanical, structural and electrical engineering, and a related entity, C&B Nevada, does architecture, so its interest in residential work is obvious. It has had some success recruiting engineers from areas across the country where the residential market has softened, but rather than waiting or using headhunters, it has started working with educational institutions.
“We’re working with the school of engineering at UNLV. Through the advisory board and working with the dean of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, we’re helping put programs in place to facilitate recruitment,” said Waibel. Recruitment efforts are national and local, with committees forming to help target high schools and even grade schools, working to create an interest in engineering in kids looking for careers. It may be a more conservative field than computer engineering, said Waibel, “but it’s a top-paying career and it’s starting to push right up there with the legal field [in terms of salaries].”
“Everyone says we need more people and better-quality people. That may sound like a problem, but it’s really a good thing,” said Waibel. “We just have to figure out how to do it. We’ll get ’em, grow ’em, teach ’em and train ’em. The business will always be there. There will always be construction and development and engineers will figure out the key things to keep us going.”
“This is the best place in the country to be,” said Harris. “Nevada is very growth-oriented, the climate and environment is friendly, and it has not been boom or bust, but pretty steady. Right now it’s getting a little busier than last year, but so far nothing we can’t handle. More than anything, it’s been predictable. We started here 20 years ago with seven people. Now we have more than 45.”