LOS ANGELES: A GEOGRAPHIC PRIORITY FOR THE FIRM

Delivering quality and raising awareness of HNTBs expertise work together to claim a piece of the available funding in the Los Angeles market.

HNTBs firmwide expertise and 35-year local presence give us the understanding, resources, relationships and know-how to be a major part of addressing infrastructure challenges in Los Angeles. Gene Bougdanos Los Angeles Practice Leader

HNTBs Los Angeles office is positioning to gain greater significance within the local market, among clients and prospects, potential business partners, media and other target audiences. A campaign to raise awareness within the city and region is under way with a fusion of sales, government relations and public relations to achieve success. Why is this effort important? Los Angeles is the countrys gateway to Asia with major international air and sea ports as well as the worst traffic congestion in the nation. The pressure on its aging infrastructure is tremendous. Residents and elected leadership in the area are committed to meeting transportation needs, said Gene Bougdanos, Los Angeles practice leader. The 1.5 percent of Los Angeles local sales tax that is dedicated to transportation infrastructure generates nearly $2 billion per year. Add to this the user fees paid by airline passengers and air and sea carriers, plus federal and state monies, such as $10 billion in state high-speed rail bonds, its clear there are significant resources to fund vertical and horizontal infrastructure. HNTBs firmwide expertise and 35-year local presence give us the understanding, resources, relationships and know-how to be a major part of addressing infrastructure challenges in Los Angeles, Bougdanos said. Bob Newsom, the leader of the Los Angeles Architecture office agrees. Our expanding architecture practice is well positioned in this marketplace and we are highly thought of by our clients, he said. WINNING WORK Fresh off major wins, HNTB is making significant progress in the metro area, with the Port of Los Angeles the busiest container port in the United States key aviation clients, several major universities and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. HNTB is part of a team that will provide on-call engineering and architectural services for the ports capital improvement, maintenance improvement and aesthetic mitigation programs. HNTBs primary role is to provide rail, structural and civil engineering expertise and resources. The overall contract is valued at $5 million.

Our demonstrated full-service capabilities, depth of resources and trust built through strong relationships with the ports staff were critical to the selection, Bougdanos said. It is a strategic win because POLA is an economic engine for Southern California that has its own revenue sources and is not reliant on federal or state funding. We believe POLA has the potential to become an HNTB foundation client in the future and be a significant piece of a sustainable Los Angeles program. Newsom points to this as an example of HNTB Infrastructure and HNTB Architecture working collaboratively. Whether its growing our transit or even multi-modal transportation business, the partnership of the two business units makes a powerful force to grow our capabilities in this marketplace. According to Bougdanos, the win with the transportation authority gives HNTB responsibility for preparing a study to evaluate and recommend operational and safety improvements to the Metrolink Antelope Valley commuter rail line. The contract is valued at approximately $500,000 with the potential for add-on work in the future. This is a significant win with a foundation client, said Bougdanos. Several HNTB associates made important contributions, including Camille Tsao, who led the pursuit, Bob Doty as project manager, Linda Bohlinger and Nate Burgess. DESIGN-BUILD KEY TO GROWTH Other key win-plan activities also are in progress, including design-build pursuits with LA Metro to construct the Crenshaw Transit Corridor light rail line linking downtown Los Angeles with LAX and the Regional Connector Transit Corridor underground light rail line that will connect multiple lines of the LA Metro rail network and provide continuous one-seat through service. We are in an excellent position to leverage our successful design-build experience on Metros I-405 HOV Widening Project for both of these upcoming transit projects, said Larry Davis, West Division President. HNTB is also actively pursuing design of a $300 million replacement of the 3,500-foot-long Sixth Street Bridge over the Los Angeles River for the City of Los Angeles. We can leverage the HNTB Advantage in architecture also, Newsom said. Were seeing many clients we serve from this office moving to design-build as their preferred method of project delivery. This makes us a valuable partner for many contractors in the region. With at least $7 billion in available funding to update the Los Angeles International Airport, HNTBs successful relationship with the client and significant capabilities in the marketplace give a leg up. With only very little of the funding coming from federal sources, these LAX projects are moving forward and we are well positioned to win. REPRESENTING IN THE WEST HNTB experts around the firm are communicating trends, working to affect policy and providing viewpoints in media, at conferences and through association involvement. For example, Ed McSpedon, Executive Vice President and Director of Corporate Development also a member of HNTBs board of directors and based in Los Angeles, was elected to the board of directors for the Construction Industry Round Table. As a member of this industry board, he will have the opportunity to represent the construction and design community by reviewing and guiding public policy and managing the efficiency of the industry. A strong engineering presence in Los Angeles is well balanced by a 90-plus architectural team, Newsom said. Were working on the most important civic architecture projects in California that will stand as a testament to our innovation and design for decades. For more information, contact Bougdanos or Newsom in the Los Angeles office.

ADVANCING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

In addition to sales, the Los Angeles office is planning its first THINK: Infrastructure Forum part of a series of programs intended to bring various expert viewpoints together around topics of critical importance within the industry. The inaugural event, scheduled for Dec. 1, will address transit. A select panel and audience will discuss this topic and offer potential solutions, which can be used by all participants in a variety of ways to help advocate for changes in policy, legislation or public perception. A written transcript and podcasts from the event will be available for reference and made available to share with clients and elected officials.