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Vol. 22, No. 52 Week of December 24, 2017
Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry

Arctic Directory 2017: AECOM No.1 in Engineering News Record’s top 500 design firm for 2017

Company connects expertise across services, markets, and geographies to deliver transformative outcomes

Q. What is the official name of your company?

A. AECOM

Q. AECOM has been in business since 1990, but has a rich heritage in Alaska long before that from its heritage companies. What do you think makes the company so resilient? Especially during downtimes in Alaska?

A. AECOM and its heritage companies in Alaska have been resilient, particularly during downturns in Alaska, thanks to the people we employ and the ability to support projects across the globe.

Alaskans are resilient by nature – we try not to let the weather or economy push us around. As we encounter challenges in downtimes, we refocus on how the opportunities have changed and how we can best pursue them. Our partnerships with other Alaskan firms on projects help us all get through the hard times and benefit from the good times.

Q. AECOM has an interesting heritage in Alaska, dating back to 1942, during World War II and its heritage company. Would you elaborate on that?

A. During World War II, an invasion force was headed toward the Alaskan mainland when it was met by a force of 110 U.S. Air Force bombers. The bombers had been deployed from an airbase at Cold Bay, which was recently built by a heritage AECOM company. After the war, a high-ranking Army Officer was quoted in a magazine saying that our construction of the airbase was “the project that saved Alaska.”

Q. AECOM has been previously ranked as the #1 engineering design firm by revenue in Engineering News-Record magazine’s annual industry rankings and had been recognized by Fortune magazine as a World’s Most Admired Company, do they still hold this standing, if so, what does the company do to continue to strive for excellence?

A. AECOM is currently ranked #1 in Engineering News Record‘s “Top 500 Design Firms” and has held its first place standing for the past seven consecutive years. AECOM is also presently recognized by Fortune magazine as a World’s Most Admired Company.

We strive to achieve excellence every day. Our employees look for innovative improvements to provide our expertise in all dimensions of our business; including delivering clean water and energy, building iconic skyscrapers, planning new cities, restoring damaged environments, connecting people and economies with roads, bridges, tunnels and transit systems, designing parks where children play and helping governments maintain stability and security. We successfully strive to deliver a better world.

Q. “Safety for Life” is AECOM’s world-class safety program, built around employee involvement and one of the core values for the company, what are other core values does the company have that help it to maintain its admired status?

A. Our values define who we are, how we act and what we aspire to. It’s one thing to imagine a better world. AECOM was built to deliver it.

Our core values include; safeguard, we operate ethically and with integrity, while prioritizing safety and security in all that we do; collaborate, we build diverse teams that connect expertise to create innovative solutions. Inspire, we develop and celebrate our people, and elevate the communities we touch; anticipate, we understand the complexity of our clients’ challenges and help them see further; deliver, we grow our business through operational excellence and flawless execution; dream, we transcend the industry by reimagining what is possible – and realizing it.

Q. In 2014 AECOM joined forces with URS and began providing arctic – smart engineering and environmental services in Alaska, how has that impacted the way AECOM does business?

A. Both companies have been operating in the Arctic for over 40 years and brought complimentary skill sets to the acquisition. URS had tremendous experience in the arctic with the oil industry, federal, State and municipal clients. AECOM brought experience with federal environmental remediation projects, and a building and infrastructure practice that includes potential investment in projects through AECOM Capital. Together, AECOM can provide plan, design, finance, construct, operate and close services to wide range of clients on a broad scale of projects.

Q. What is your company’s main strength or its edge over the competition?

A. AECOM is built on delivering infrastructure critical to quality of life and mobility, and our design, build, finance and operate capabilities differentiate us among our peers in the industry. Our ability to integrate these services into a combined offering, best aligning this offering to meet the exact needs of our clients, is unrivalled in our industry.

Our clients face tough challenges, and we work to understand and solve them better than anyone else. We match the complexity of these challenges with the diversity of our expertise, spanning all phases of the development life cycle. This experience delivers innovative solutions that transform communities and improve lives.

Q. When AECOM joined forces with URS in 2014 the company expended its capabilities and workforce, how does that look today and what additions or changes have been made?

A. AECOM’s purchase of URS helped AECOM’s capacity to design, build, finance and operate major projects. We no longer just draw up a set of plans to hand over to the contractors to tweak and build. Now, we are at the forefront of assessing the client’s needs, deal-making to finance a program and/or planning its execution.

Q. In 2015 you told our PN readers that AECOM was testing unmanned aerial systems for a client on the North Slope, how did that go? Has AECOM continued to test this system and or use it on other projects?

A. We are proud to report that the unmanned aerial systems data collection effort was a success, and provided comparable monitoring to traditional aircraft that are more expensive and subject to weather delays. We have a team of subject matter experts that have deployed this technology for clients across the globe.

Q. Are there any important projects the company is currently a part or anticipate in the next few years?

A. We have worked on most of the major North Slope development projects over the last 15 years, including the Alaska LNG project and its predecessors, the Point Thomson Project, and a variety of projects for ConocoPhillips. We hope to continue our involvement in those projects as they move forward. In addition, there are a number of exciting environmental, mining and infrastructure prospects and AECOM’s experience and performance record can contribute to their successful development.

Q. Previously you said that locally half of your work is for the oil and gas business, how has this changed?

A. Oil and gas remains an important foundation of the state’s economy. While the amount of oil and gas spending has declined in Alaska, we continue to work with our clients providing fit for purpose services as efficiently as possible until market conditions rebound. We are fortunate to have clients across all sectors and are able to balance our staff and project work to adjust to the current market.

Q. The other half of your work you said was divided into services for the private and public sectors, have you had to pursue more of those projects? For instance mining, the Shemya Power Plant, infrastructure etc?

A. We continue to pursue work with public and private clients as well as oil and gas opportunities. With the decline in some sectors, we look for more opportunities in others. AECOM maintains a strong practice with engineering design, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and hazard mitigation services to state and municipal clients, in addition to environmental and engineering services provided to the Department of Defense.

Q. What do you most want people to know about your company?

A. AECOM is built to deliver a better world. We are a global network of experts working with clients, communities and colleagues to develop and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most complex challenges. We connect expertise across services, markets and geographies to deliver transformative outcomes. Worldwide, we design, build, finance, operate and manage projects and programs that unlock opportunities, protect our environment and improve people’s lives.

Q. Does the company have a website?

www.aecom.com



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