If demand for engineering services is a sign of whats to come in the Inland Northwest construction market, that sector could remain strong here for the foreseeable future.


Leaders of engineering companies here report strong activity this year, and some say they are so busy that theyve had to turn away work. Also, while there appears to be no shortage of work, some firms report difficulty attracting additional engineers, including recent college graduates.


Dave Coffman, Spokane-based president of Seattle-based Coffman Engineers Inc., which has offices in Anchorage and Los Angeles as well as Spokane and Seattle, says, We have turned down work in some situations for a variety of reasons.


Activity at engineering firms usually is cyclical, with some types of engineering in higher demand than others and some of a firms offices busier than others. For the first time in his 30-year career, however, neither is the case, Coffman says.


Were busy in all areas, both geographic areas and types of work, he says.


Roger Flint, a vice president and Spokane-area manager for Denver-based CH2M Hill Inc., says that company turned away one project recently due to a conflict of interest, but if CH2M Hill had been able to take the job, he doesnt know how it would have staffed it.


All areas of engineering seem to be in demand, but Flint notices the biggest jump in activity in the civil engineering arena. He says developers with smaller projects might struggle to find a firm that can take on their civil work.


The projects with 10 units or less, those folks are going to have a hard time finding people to do that work for them, Flint says.


Jerry Storhaug, president of Storhaug Engineering Inc., says that Spokane firm has a three-week backlog of work, meaning that if it accepted a new project today, it wouldnt be able to start work on it for another three weeks.


Storhaug says that the engineering firm, which focuses on civil engineering and other property development services, has been able to grow with demand, increasing its staff size to 27 employees from 17 workers over the past two years.


Even so, he says, the company has been more selective about the projects it takes on and has turned down work in some instances. He says it typically refers work to other firms if a prospective client is working on a tight time frame.


Id like to say the growth is based completely on our reputation, but some of it can be attributed to a lot of property development going on, Storhaug says.


Activity at the Spokane Regional Plan Center bears out that notion. Rita Heldenbrand, executive director of the plan center, says that as of Sept. 20, 170 projects were on file at the center awaiting bids from architects, engineers, or contractors. Thats up from 131 projects a year earlier and 97 projects two years earlier.


Year to date as of Sept. 20, the plan center had housed 1,900 jobs, up from 1,800 in the year-earlier period, Heldenbrand says.


In addition to having more projects on file, Heldenbrand says, Im hearing from almost every trade that they cant find enough people to hire.


Flint says the Spokane office of CH2M Hill recently hired three entry-level engineers, but it took the company about four months to find those new employees. In the interim, he says, some of the companys high-level project managers have been doing work that theyd normally supervise.


They get tied up in the day-to-day, which keeps them from being able to manage additional projects, Flint says.


Mike Taylor, president of Spokane-based Taylor Engineering Inc., says the market for engineers is tight, but Taylor Engineering has been successful in recruiting new engineers.


Weve been pleased with the current graduates that were getting, he says.


Coffman says Coffman Engineers has been able to attract job candidates, but mechanical and structural engineers are somewhat hard to find now.


He says increases in construction activity internationally have caused the market for engineers to tighten in most areas, including Spokane.


Storhaug says Puget Sound-area engineering firms are busy and growing as well, and they have begun recruiting engineers from Inland Northwest schools and engineering companies.


We used to be an isolated employment market, but were very much affected by the Puget Sound now, Storhaug says. A lot of our recent graduates have been offered some very attractive salaries in the Puget Sound area.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at linnp@spokanejournal.com.