What Orion Planning + Design does

Orion Planning + Design (OPD), originally founded as the Orion Planning Group in 2011 by six partners, is a private, multi-disciplined professional services firm that provides place-based planning and design services to government clients. The firm is headquartered in Missoula, Montana, and operates a decentralized model with five offices — Hernando MS, Winterport ME, Cold Spring NY, and St. Simons Island GA — supported by named partners in each region. Its service portfolio spans comprehensive planning, zoning code development and audits, urban design and master planning, landscape architecture, public engagement and consensus-building, and GIS analysis and mapping, delivered as integrated offerings that carry projects from vision through regulatory implementation.

Revenue is generated through project-based professional services contracts with public-sector clients. The firm secures work primarily through direct engagement with municipal, county, and federal agencies and through responses to public-sector RFPs, using a partner-led sales motion rather than a centralized sales force. Pricing is customized per engagement and is not publicly disclosed. Customers are concentrated in local and regional government (the primary segment), with a secondary federal government segment that includes complex regulatory work such as the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Named engagements span both small communities (Town of Taylor MS) and large jurisdictions (Maui County Title 19, Butte-Silver Bow, Madison AL on Track 2045), with international work in Peru reported in the firm's history. The firm has completed over 120 projects across 40+ states since 2011.

The company remains privately held by its partner group, with no institutional investors, parent company, M&A activity, or external funding disclosed. The underlying technology is service-driven: GIS analysis, place-based planning methodologies, and context-sensitive design approaches rather than software products. There are no AI/ML capabilities, digital products, APIs, or mobile applications in the offering, distinguishing the firm from technology-enabled planning platforms and positioning it as a traditional relationship-driven consultancy whose primary assets are partner credentials (two former APA Presidents, two former AICP Presidents), regional relationships, and an integrated planning-to-design delivery model.

Name

Orion Planning + Design

Legal name

Orion Planning + Design

Website

https://orionplanningdesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Orion Planning + Design is a private, partner-led professional services firm providing place-based planning, zoning code, urban design, and public engagement services to municipalities, counties, and federal agencies across the United States, including international work in Peru.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Planning Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (541320), Architectural Services (54131), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Regional & Land Use Planning (BPAHAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD), Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD), Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC)

Keywords

• Urban planning services
• Zoning code consulting
• Community engagement
• Landscape architecture
• GIS analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Missoula

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Planning and Design Services: Revenue generated through consulting fees for comprehensive planning, zoning code development, urban design, and community development services provided to government clients. Project-based contracts with municipalities, counties, and towns.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Orion Planning + Design is a multi-disciplined professional services firm providing place-based planning and design services for government communities. Its core work covers comprehensive plans, zoning code development and updates, urban design and master planning, landscape architecture, public engagement, and GIS analysis delivered through project-based contracts with municipalities, counties, and federal agencies.

Product overview

Orion Planning + Design operates as a multi-disciplined professional services firm offering place-based planning and design services for communities. The firm provides a coordinated portfolio of services including Comprehensive Planning Services, Zoning Code Development and Update, Urban Design and Master Planning, Landscape Architecture, Public Engagement Services, and GIS Analysis and Mapping. These services work together as an integrated offering—comprehensive plans establish community vision, zoning codes implement regulatory frameworks, urban design shapes physical spaces, and public engagement ensures community involvement throughout. Notable named projects include the Maui County Title 19 Code Update, Future Great Falls Growth Policy, Butte-Silver Bow Growth Policy & Zoning Update, Madison on Track 2045, and Taylor Village Plan. The firm serves communities nationally from Hawaii to Georgia with offices across multiple U.S. states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Comprehensive Planning Services
• Zoning Code Development and Update
• Urban Design and Master Planning
• Landscape Architecture
• Public Engagement Services
• GIS Analysis and Mapping

Quantifiable outcome

• 120+ projects successfully completed since founding
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments2 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 indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MIG: MIG is a planning, design, and communications firm with deep expertise in comprehensive planning, public engagement, and community design for cities and agencies. It is highly comparable to Orion in its focus on community-driven planning and engagement-driven processes.
• WRT (Wallace Roberts & Todd): WRT is a planning, urban design, and landscape architecture firm that delivers master plans, community plans, and public space design for municipalities and institutions. Its integrated planning-and-design service model is closely aligned with Orion's offering.
• Sasaki Associates: Sasaki is a planning and design firm specializing in urban planning, landscape architecture, and strategic planning for cities and campuses. It is directly comparable to Orion in its integrated planning-plus-design approach and its work with municipalities on master plans and urban design projects.
• PlaceWorks: PlaceWorks is a California-based planning, design, and environmental services firm focused on general plans, specific plans, zoning, and urban design for municipalities. It closely matches Orion in service mix, government client base, and project scale.
• Dyett & Bhatia: Dyett & Bhatia is an urban and regional planning firm that prepares general plans, specific plans, and zoning ordinances for cities and counties. It is a direct peer to Orion in scope, government focus, and project types.
• Opticos Design: Opticos Design is a planning and architecture firm known for missing middle housing, form-based codes, and urban design work with municipalities. It overlaps with Orion on zoning code rewrites, master planning, and community-scale design engagements.

Emerging players

• Calthorpe Analytics: Calthorpe Analytics develops urban planning software and analytics for scenario planning, climate resilience, and land use analysis. It is an emerging, tech-enabled player addressing the same planning workflows Orion supports with GIS, and represents a possible disruptor or complement to traditional planning services.

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: Stantec is a global design and engineering consultancy with a substantial urban planning and landscape architecture practice. It competes for many of the same municipal comprehensive planning, zoning, and community design RFPs as Orion, though with much broader service lines and a far larger bench.
• AECOM: AECOM is a global infrastructure consultancy with a sizable planning, design, and economics practice that pursues municipal and federal planning contracts. It directly competes for large government planning and master planning engagements that Orion also targets, but with substantially more resources and multi-disciplinary capacity.
• Kimley-Horn: Kimley-Horn is a U.S. planning, engineering, and design consultancy that regularly competes for municipal comprehensive plans, zoning updates, and master plans. It is comparable to Orion in its land use and community planning focus but is dramatically larger and offers a fuller range of engineering services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/orion_pg
• Facebookfacebook.com/Orionplanningdesign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/orion-planning-and-design

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Orion Planning + Design