What Wright-Pierce does

Wright-Pierce is a multi-discipline environmental engineering firm founded in 1947 that delivers planning, design, and construction administration services for water, wastewater, civil infrastructure, and building projects. The firm serves municipal governments, water districts, sewer districts, and public utilities across the Northeast United States and Florida, with selected enterprise engagements in the private utility sector (e.g., Aquarion Water Company, Veolia North America). Core service lines include Drinking Water, Wastewater, Water Resources, Civil & Transportation, and Building Design, complemented by support offerings in Landscape Architecture, GIS, Strategic Funding Services, and Hydrogeology.

The firm's technical differentiation centers on specialized contaminant treatment capabilities, including PFAS removal using GAC and ion-exchange media, 1,4-Dioxane treatment via advanced oxidation (UV light with hydrogen peroxide), and a dedicated Horizontal Infrastructure Assessment Group that deploys NASSCO-standardized condition assessment protocols for buried water, wastewater, and stormwater assets. The company holds analyst rankings from Engineering News-Record across five categories (Top 500 Design Firms, Top 200 Environmental, Top 25 Wastewater Treatment, Top 50 Sewer and Waste, Top 50 Trenchless) and has received an EPA Environmental Merit Award (2018) and an ACEC Engineering Excellence Award (2019). Customer evidence includes multi-million-gallon water storage design (Bangor Water District, 3.2M-gallon tank), CSO mitigation infrastructure (City of Portland ME, 2.25M-gallon storage conduit), and PFAS treatment achieving non-detectable levels (Town of Burlington, MA).

Wright-Pierce operates as an employee-owned private firm with 250+ engineers and support professionals distributed across nine offices in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Florida. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services engagements, with pricing negotiated on a quote-by-project basis; financials are not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market motion is sales-led and relationship-driven, supported by content marketing (Insights blog, video), LinkedIn (~97,460 followers), and recruiting-driven brand-building through college career fairs. A wholly-owned subsidiary, Wright-Pierce Engineering Consultants, PC (established 2011), provides services in New York State.

Name

Wright-Pierce

Legal name

Wright-Pierce

Website

https://wright-pierce.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Wright-Pierce is an employee-owned environmental engineering firm founded in 1947 that provides water, wastewater, civil infrastructure, and building design services to municipal governments, water utilities, and sewer districts across the Northeast US and Florida.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil & Environmental Engineering Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Compliance, Monitoring & Field Services (Sampling/IAQ/Inspections) (IMAIAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

PFAS & Emerging Contaminants Treatment Services (IMAIAGAJ), PFAS & Emerging Contaminants Removal (AFFF/Trace Organics) (EUANADAJ), Water & Wastewater Compliance (NPDES/Stormwater, Pretreatment, Drinking Water/SDWA) (EUAHABAB)

Keywords

• Water infrastructure engineering
• Wastewater treatment design
• Environmental engineering services
• Civil infrastructure consulting
• Municipal utility engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Topsham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consulting Services: Professional engineering services including planning, design, and construction administration for water, wastewater, and civil infrastructure projects. Revenue generated through project-based consulting engagements with municipalities and utilities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Wright-Pierce is a multi-discipline environmental engineering firm that delivers planning, design, and construction administration services for municipal water, wastewater, water resources, civil/transportation, and building infrastructure projects. It also provides specialized treatment services for emerging contaminants (PFAS, 1,4-Dioxane), condition assessment, GIS, hydrogeology, and grant/funding assistance. The firm serves government entities, water and sewer districts, and utilities across the Northeast US and Florida.

Product overview

Wright-Pierce is a multi-discipline environmental engineering firm established in 1947 that provides comprehensive infrastructure engineering services. The company's core offerings span Drinking Water, Wastewater, Water Resources, Civil & Transportation, and Building Design services. Supporting these core areas are specialized services including Landscape Architecture, GIS Services, Strategic Funding Services, Hydrogeology, PFAS and emerging contaminant treatment, and a dedicated Horizontal Infrastructure Assessment Group. The firm operates as an employee-owned organization with 250+ engineers across offices in the Northeast and Florida, serving municipalities, utilities, and government clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Drinking Water Engineering Services Sustainable drinking water systems engineering, including water treatment plant design, distribution systems, and water storage facilities, for municipal and utility clients.
• Wastewater Engineering Services Wastewater solutions that protect critical water resources, including treatment facility design, collection systems, and combined sewer overflow (CSO) mitigation, for municipalities and utilities.
• Water Resources Engineering Services Strategies for watershed management, stormwater management, and flood mitigation engineering for municipalities and environmental stakeholders.
• Civil & Transportation Engineering Municipal infrastructure engineering, including roadway design, bridges, and transportation systems, for municipalities and public-sector clients.
• Building Design Services Comprehensive building design including architectural/structural, mechanical/HVAC, electrical, and SCADA/instrumentation services for municipal and utility facilities.
• Landscape Architecture Landscape architecture services including low impact design, planting plans, interpretive signage, trail planning, downtown revitalization, waterfront planning, and public park master planning.
• GIS Services GIS design and implementation, internet mapping applications, utility mapping, roadway management, environmental impact studies, and asset management support.
• Strategic Funding Services Financial impact assessments, capital improvement program analyses, rate structure studies, and grant/loan assistance for EPA, DEP, DOT, and USDA funding.
• Hydrogeology Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Achieved non-detectable PFAS levels using ion-exchange resin system in Burlington, MA project
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Pleasant Bay AllianceflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Alliance of four Cape Cod towns (Brewster, Chatham, Harwich, and Orleans) formed to coordinate resource management for Pleasant Bay. Wright-Pierce prepared the Targeted Watershed Management Plan enabling first-of-its-kind Watershed Permit from MA DEP. Towns signed inter-municipal agreement for nitrogen credit trading.
• Penobscot River Restoration TrustflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Non-profit partnership including Penobscot Indian Nation, American Rivers, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Maine Audubon, Natural Resources Council of Maine, Trout Unlimited, and The Nature Conservancy. Wright-Pierce provided engineering for removal of the Veazie Dam to restore 1,000 miles of habitat for sea-run fish. Key partners include US Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA providing technical and financial support.
• Town of Exeter, New HampshirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic-private partnership to address infiltration/inflow in sewer system. 136 homeowners in Jady Hill neighborhood participated, with Town funding sewer upgrades within right-of-way and limiting homeowner costs to $1,000 maximum. Achieved 75-80% I/I reduction through comprehensive private and public sewer service upgrades.
• Veolia North AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking with Veolia to develop Mercury Pollution Minimization Program for City of Poughkeepsie to comply with NY State Discharge Permit requirements.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: North American engineering consultancy with substantial water practice serving municipalities. Comparable services in water treatment and civil infrastructure, but at significantly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Arcadis: Global design and consultancy with a sizable water and environmental practice serving municipalities. Overlaps with Wright-Pierce on PFAS and water treatment but operates at much larger scale with broader geographic reach.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with a major water and environment practice serving municipal utilities. Competes with Wright-Pierce on larger municipal treatment and conveyance programs but as part of a much broader portfolio.
• Jacobs: Global professional services firm with major water and environmental consulting practice. Overlaps with Wright-Pierce on municipal water/wastewater but competes across far broader engineering and program management mandates.

Direct peers

• Haley & Aldrich: Environmental and geotechnical engineering consultancy serving public and private clients across the Northeast. Comparable in hydrogeology, environmental site assessment, and infrastructure-related consulting.
• Tighe & Bond: New England-based engineering firm providing water, wastewater, and civil infrastructure services. Direct peer with comparable municipal client base, geographic overlap, and multi-discipline service offering.
• Brown and Caldwell: Employee-owned environmental engineering firm specializing in water and wastewater services to municipal and industrial clients. Directly comparable in business model (ESOP), service mix, and PFAS/emerging contaminant expertise.
• CDM Smith: Large employee-owned environmental and water infrastructure engineering consultancy. Directly comparable to Wright-Pierce on water/wastewater treatment design, municipal client base, and emerging contaminant (PFAS) services, though at significantly larger scale.
• Woodard & Curran: Employee-owned environmental engineering and operations firm with strong Northeast footprint. Directly comparable in municipal water/wastewater focus, employee-ownership culture, and emerging contaminant practice.

Emerging players

• GHD: Global engineering and environmental consultancy expanding its US water presence. Comparable in water/wastewater treatment design and PFAS services, with growing but still emerging North American footprint relative to Wright-Pierce's established Northeast base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/97460
• Xx.com/Wright_Pierce
• Facebookfacebook.com/WrightPierceEngineers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wright-Pierce