Ecological Resource Consultants

What Ecological Resource Consultants does

Ecological Resource Consultants, Inc. (ERC) is a privately held environmental consulting firm founded in 1997 and headquartered in Panama City Beach, Florida. The firm delivers a comprehensive suite of ecological assessment, permitting, and restoration services, with Environmental Permits as the foundational offering, supported by Mitigation and Restoration, Mitigation Bank management, Threatened and Endangered Species services, Soils services, Submerged Lands services, Botanical expertise, Forestry, and GIS and Mapping. Underlying technology is centered on Geographic Information Systems (ArcView, AutoCad Maps) for spatial analysis, georectification, aerial photo interpretation, and database creation, supplemented by proprietary protocols such as the Vegetative Success Monitoring Protocol that was used as a nationwide model for the 2008 USACE/EPA compensatory mitigation rule.

ERC generates revenue through project-based professional services engagements with both government and private-sector clients. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and contracts are quoted directly per engagement. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales, with direct relationships maintained across federal agencies (USACE, USFWS, DoD, EPA, NOAA, USFS, NPS), state agencies (FDEP, FDOT, Florida Fish and Wildlife, regional water management districts), municipal clients (Panama City Beach), universities (Florida State, Auburn), and large private landholders and developers (Home Depot, Lowes, Mosaic, Anheuser Busch, 84 Lumber, Plum Creek). Project scope ranges from individual residential lots to over a million acres, with cumulative evaluations exceeding 2 million acres across all 67 Florida counties and the broader southeastern United States. The firm holds Federal Woman-Owned Disadvantaged Business and State of Florida FDBE certifications, providing preferential access to set-aside contracting pools.

The firm is led by CEO and founder Ashley Griffin, President Joseph Schuster, and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Martin Gawronski, with a multi-disciplinary staff credentialed across ecological restoration, wetland science, soil science, arboriculture, and stormwater management. Operating geographies are concentrated in Florida and the southeastern United States, with project work extending into South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the British West Indies.

Name

Ecological Resource Consultants

Legal name

Ecological Resource Consultants, Inc.

Website

https://ecoresource.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ecological Resource Consultants is a Florida-based environmental consulting firm founded in 1997 that provides ecological permitting, mitigation banking, and restoration services to federal, state, and private-sector clients across the southeastern United States, with cumulative project work exceeding two million acres.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Consulting Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Advisory (BPAHAFAA)

Keywords

• Environmental consulting services
• Wetland delineation services
• Ecological restoration services
• Environmental permitting services
• Mitigation banking services

Headquarters

HQ city

Panama City Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Environmental Consulting Services: Professional consulting services for environmental permits, ecological restoration, wetland delineations, threatened and endangered species surveys, soil analysis, GIS mapping, and mitigation bank management. Services provided on a project basis to government and private sector clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Ecological Resource Consultants, Inc. (ERC) is an environmental consulting firm that delivers ecological assessments, environmental permitting (Section 404 Clean Water Act, ERP, WRP, NEPA), wetland delineations, mitigation bank design and management, threatened and endangered species surveys, soil science, submerged lands services, botanical and forestry services, and GIS/mapping to federal, state, and local government agencies and private sector developers and landowners in Florida and the Southeastern United States.

Product overview

Ecological Resource Consultants (ERC) is an environmental consulting firm offering a comprehensive suite of interconnected services for ecological assessment, permitting, and restoration. The core portfolio centers on Environmental Permits as the foundational service, supported by Mitigation & Restoration and Mitigation Banks services. Additional specialized offerings include Threatened & Endangered Species Services, Soils Services, Submerged Lands Services, Botanical Expertise, Forestry Services, and GIS & Mapping. The company also provides Public Education & Outreach materials including identification cards and educational signage. ERC operates primarily in Florida and the southeastern United States, serving both public sector clients (government agencies, municipalities) and private sector clients (developers, timber companies, commercial enterprises).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Environmental Permits

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully created mitigation success within 5 years for Fanning Bayou Development project (163 acres of on-site mitigation, 11.5 acres impact).
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers25 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: Global engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting firm with a substantial U.S. ecological and permitting practice — directly competes for state DOT and federal environmental work, with broader geographic and service coverage.
• Tetra Tech: Premier global consulting and engineering firm with a large environmental practice covering water resources, ecological restoration, and federal agency work — competes for the same USACE/EPA contracts ERC pursues, at significantly larger scale.
• Cardno (now Stantec): Global environmental and engineering consultancy with strong practice in ecological assessment, permitting, and mitigation banking — broader geographic and service reach than ERC but directly overlapping on CWA/ESA work.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with a sizable environmental services practice including NEPA, permitting, and ecosystem restoration — pursues the same federal and transportation-sector environmental contracts as ERC.
• WSP USA: Global professional services firm with strong environmental and earth sciences practice following acquisition of Wood E&I — competes for FDOT, USACE, and EPA contracts across ERC's regional footprint.
• Environmental Resources Management (ERM): Global sustainability and environmental consulting firm serving regulated industries on permitting, impact assessment, and ecological compliance — comparable to ERC on regulated client work, with global delivery capacity.
• HDR Inc. Engineering and environmental services firm with a strong transportation-sector and federal practice — directly competes with ERC on FDOT and federal environmental permitting work.

Emerging players

• Golder Associates (now part of WSP): Earth and environmental consulting firm historically focused on site assessment, soil science, and ecological services — overlaps ERC's soils and ecological assessment capabilities within the southeastern U.S. market.

Direct peers

• Environmental Science Associates (ESA): Employee-owned environmental consulting firm offering biological assessments, wetland delineation, permitting, and restoration services across the U.S. — closely comparable in service portfolio and agency-facing regulatory work to ERC.
• SWCA Environmental Consultants: Large U.S. environmental consulting firm providing ecological surveys, permitting, NEPA, and mitigation services to public and private clients — directly comparable service mix and customer base to ERC, though operating at much greater national scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ercflinc

Compliance17 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

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 Ecological Resource Consultants