DOWL merger to strengthen engineering firm

ALASKA — An Alaska engineering firm is teaming up with an out-of-state company to strengthen its name and increase its national presence.

DOWL Engineers has merged with HKM Engineering Inc., a firm based in the Lower 48. With the merger, the parent company DOWL LLC has offices in Alaska, Washington, Arizona, Montana and Wyoming. Both companies come to the merger with employee bases of about 200.

Stewart Osgood, president of DOWL, will maintain his position in the company. As for the merger, he said it will bring additional growth and expertise to the company.

“We are committed to growth and providing challenging opportunities for our staff,” Osgood says in a prepared statement. “Adding HKM is a strategic step in achieving those goals. By joining forces with HKM, we increase our presence in the fast-growing mountain states, strengthen our civil engineering capabilities, broaden our transportation engineering and environmental services business, and add structural engineering and water rights practices. Together, DOWL and HKM offer significant expertise to the western states markets.”

DOWL was founded in 1962 and began its operations in Anchorage, the company reports. Since then, the firm has also established a statewide presence with offices also located in Juneau and Palmer. The Palmer office has been in operation for about four years. DOWL performs many services for companies and individuals in the Mat-Su Borough, including local governments.

HKM began providing structural, civil and environmental engineering services in 1955. With offices in Montana and Wyoming, the company reports it provides an array of services for government and private projects. With experience in many areas of engineering, DOWL provides service to several different sectors. The government sector makes up 51 percent of the company’s business, 35 percent is in the private sector and 14 percent of business filters through the consulting sector.

Throughout its history, DOWL has been a part of many big projects in Valley with a project list that includes current work on the Hatcher Pass ski area project and Bogard Road extension.

John Duffy, manager for the Mat-Su Borough, said his relationship with the company has been a positive one.

“They’ve done a great job on the Bogard Road [extension] and it’s a very difficult project,” Duffy said.

As a project bound to receive opposition, Duffy said that DOWL did well handling the bumps and changes along the road. As the company merges with its Lower 48 counterpart, Duffy doesn’t expect any negative changes. In fact, he expects the company will be able to improve its capabilities.

“I think it’s a good thing an Alaska company is getting stronger,” he said.

Contact Chris Gillow at chris.gillow@frontiersman.com or 352-2284.