15 Years and Forward!

My breathing slowed and my eyes relaxed as I stared out a second-floor hospital window, deep in thought. Clouds were scattered across a vivid blue sky and brightly colored leaves tumbled in a cool fall breeze. It was November 26, 2007, and my second daughter Kynsi was born the night before.

As she and my wife rested quietly in the hospital bed behind me, I contemplated the moment. My life was forever changed by the birth of my second daughter, and I was on the cusp of making a huge decision—to start a company and chart a new course for my career. Just one week later, the day after my 32nd birthday, I followed through on that decision. On December 4, 2007, WSC (Water Systems Consulting) was born. I was nervous but confident, and my hopes were high. However, I could never have imagined how impactful that decision would be for the employees, clients and communities WSC would serve over the next 15 years and beyond.

The early days of WSC were simple– I was the only employee and sole owner. I worked out of my basement, doing it all, from engineering and business development to administration and accounting. My philosophy was straightforward: provide personalized service, deliver sustainable solutions, and create exceptional value for every client, every time. I focused on people and worked hard to build trust and lasting relationships. I abandoned transactional thinking in favor of a long-term perspective and commitment. If WSC was going to grow and thrive, it would be one client, one project, one employee at a time.

Fifteen years later, those values are still at the core of who WSC is and what separates us from our competitors. In this era of company consolidations, publicly traded mega firms, impersonal, metric-driven consulting and a pervasive focus on short-term results, WSC stands apart. We offer a higher level of service to our client partners, providing uncommon continuity, commitment, innovation and long-term value. And for our employees, we offer support, empowerment and unique and varied opportunities to lead and thrive, including employee-ownership.

Fifteen years ago, my vision was to create a vibrant, lasting and leading water consulting firm, dedicated to Creating a Better Water Future?. Today, WSC has grown to 63 staff in nine offices serving clients in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Despite our rapid growth, we still have a close-knit, people focused family culture. We are tackling some of the most complex water challenges in the country, but our team of dedicated professionals still takes a humble approach to our work every day. At our core, we are public servants, working hard for the communities we serve, dedicated to making the world a better place.

As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, we are reflecting on our past successes and looking forward to an incredible future ahead. We are grateful for the friendships we have made, the successes we have created together and our ongoing opportunities to pursue our collective vision. WSC’s family has grown, serving more than 180 public agency clients throughout the west, successfully delivering more than 2,800 projects including managing, planning, designing, and delivering billions of dollars of water infrastructure.

Yet, our heart and soul are the people and families that make up this company. With every graduation, marriage, home purchase, new pet, new child, or important life milestone, I am reminded how special our company is and what a unique privilege it is to work with this team every day.

For our 15th year, we will be sharing staff videos, reflecting on some of our favorite projects, and highlighting milestones; follow us on LinkedIn,?Instagram,?Facebook, and?our blog to be a part of the celebration! We’d love to hear from you and look forward to your reactions and feedback. Thanks for checking in!