What McGill Associates does

McGill Associates is a privately held professional engineering and consulting firm founded in 1984 and headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. Operating across eight offices in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia with 180+ employees, the firm delivers water and wastewater engineering, civil engineering, water resources, land planning and recreation, electrical engineering, MEP, surveying, construction administration, solid waste management, environmental services, and strategic consulting services to public and private clients throughout the Southeast US. Its primary customer segment is local government municipalities, served through long-term on-call engineering contracts, project-based engagements, and dedicated funding-services support that navigates state and federal programs (TDEC, NC DEQ, SRF, ARPA, CDBG, USDA ReConnect).

The firm monetizes exclusively through professional services revenue, with quote-based project and on-call pricing typical for engineering consulting; no modular software or productized offering is sold. Its go-to-market is relationship-driven and field-led, leveraging a bench of PE-credentialed principals who serve as office managers across the eight locations and a leadership team that includes former municipal managers, TDEC senior leaders, and a former DEQ regulator. McGill's proprietary technical asset is the Sed-Emmett Sediment Basin Design Model, a TDEC-compliant design tool developed from a University of Tennessee master's thesis and released as an industry resource in July 2026.

Under President Andy Lovingood, McGill has executed a 42-year growth trajectory from a single Asheville office to a regional multi-state platform, with recent strategic emphasis on disaster recovery (Hurricane Helene response across Western NC), a formalized Funding Services practice, and senior lateral hires aimed at deepening municipal client relationships and recruiting pipeline. The firm operates as an independently owned professional corporation (McGill Associates, PA) with no disclosed institutional ownership, no parent company, and no public listing.

Name

McGill Associates

Legal name

McGill Associates, PA

Website

https://mcgillassociates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Short description

McGill Associates is a privately held engineering and consulting firm with 180+ employees across eight Southeast US offices, providing water/wastewater, civil, environmental, land planning, and grant funding services primarily to local government municipalities in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Asheville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Engineering and Consulting Services: Professional engineering and consulting services provided to public and private sector clients. Services include water and wastewater engineering, civil engineering, environmental services, solid waste planning, land planning and recreation, surveying, electrical engineering, MEP, and consulting services such as financial planning, strategic planning, and grant funding assistance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

McGill Associates is an engineering and consulting firm that provides planning, design, and construction administration services for municipal infrastructure projects. The firm specializes in water and wastewater systems, civil engineering, water resources, surveying, and related environmental and consulting services for local government clients.

Product overview

McGill Associates is an engineering and consulting firm offering a unified portfolio of professional services organized around three core practice areas: engineering services (encompassing water & wastewater, civil engineering, water resources, electrical engineering, MEP, surveying, construction administration, and solid waste), land planning and recreation, and consulting services (including economic development, grant funding, financial planning, and strategic planning). The company operates as a service-based consultancy rather than a software platform, delivering human expertise across eight office locations in the Southeast to public and private clients. Services are provided as professional consulting engagements rather than modular software products, with teams collaborating across disciplines to deliver integrated solutions for community infrastructure projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water & Wastewater Engineering Planning and design of water and wastewater treatment, distribution, and collection systems for municipal clients.
• Civil Engineering Civil infrastructure design including roads, drainage, site development, and public works projects for municipal clients.
• Water Resources Water resources planning including stormwater management, watershed analysis, and floodplain studies.
• Land Planning & Recreation Land use planning, parks and recreation master planning, and site planning services for municipalities.
• Electrical Engineering Electrical system design for utility, municipal, and infrastructure projects.
• MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering design for buildings and facilities.
• Surveying Land surveying and mapping services including boundary, topographic, and construction staking surveys.
• Construction Administration Construction administration services including inspection, project management, and oversight for built infrastructure projects.
• Solid Waste Services Engineering consulting for solid waste management including landfill design, closures, and operations support.
• Environmental Services Environmental consulting, permitting, and compliance support for municipal infrastructure projects.
• Consulting Services General consulting services related to municipal infrastructure planning, rate studies, and asset management.

Quantifiable outcome

• Water loss reduction: identified over 35% water loss and provided recommendations for $1.1M in annual savings
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered notable and core.

• FOCUS BroadbandnotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022McGill provided environmental evaluation services for FOCUS Broadband's fiber optic corridor project, identifying wetlands, streams, and endangered species habitat across 458 route miles in Pender County, NC for USDA Rural Utilities Service ReConnect Program.
• Erwin UtilitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMcGill provided emergency response and recovery support after Tropical Storm Helene, including design of temporary bypass systems, WWTP repairs, and permanent solution planning. Ongoing partnership for long-term infrastructure resilience.
• North Wilkesboro and WilkesborocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMcGill designed a collaborative raw water intake project serving both communities through an interlocal agreement. Project includes 15,000 linear feet of waterline and shared intake facility with 6-MGD (North Wilkesboro) and 16-MGD (Wilkesboro) capacity.
• Town of Bryson CitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationship with Bryson City spanning decades. McGill supported new WWTP project increasing capacity by 50%, helped secure $15M ARPA funding and $3M SRF principal forgiveness for the project.
• Town of FletchercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOn-call engineering relationship for approximately 20 years. McGill acts as extension of staff providing land development review, annual resurfacing, MS4 permitting, park improvements, and recent disaster recovery support following Tropical Storm Helene.
• Chimney Rock VillagecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMcGill has worked alongside Chimney Rock Village for years and continues supporting Hurricane Helene recovery including temporary WWTP, sewer system restoration, and long-term infrastructure planning.
• NC Division of Water InfrastructurenotableOthersMcGill's funding services team works with DWI to secure SRF loans and principal forgiveness for water and wastewater projects. Achieved 100% success rate on 6 applications in Fall 2024 funding round.
• NC Department of Environmental QualitynotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerMcGill partners with NC DEQ on wastewater treatment plant modernization projects. Town of Andrews WWTP project funded through DEQ with $15M secured.
• NC Department of Commerce Rural Economic Development DivisionnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerMcGill provided grant development and administration for Haywood County's Clyde Armory renovation project, securing CDBG funding totaling approximately $3.4M.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Brown and Caldwell: Specialist engineering firm focused on water and wastewater infrastructure for municipalities and utilities, with deep expertise in treatment plant design and regulatory compliance. Directly comparable on McGill's core water/wastewater practice.
• Hazen and Sawyer: Engineering firm specializing in water, wastewater, stormwater, and environmental infrastructure for public agencies. Comparable specialty practice serving municipal water clients with similar project-based consulting model.
• Kimley-Horn: Multi-discipline engineering, planning, and consulting firm serving public and private clients with similar civil, water, environmental, and land planning capabilities. Closely comparable in scope of services and municipal client focus, though Kimley-Horn operates at significantly larger national scale.
• Freese and Nichols: Employee-owned engineering and consulting firm focused on water, wastewater, civil engineering, and environmental services for municipal clients across the Southern US. Highly comparable business model, service mix, and client concentration in public sector infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: Multi-discipline engineering, architecture, and environmental services firm serving municipal water, civil, and environmental markets across North America. Competes with McGill on municipal RFPs as a national incumbent with regional offices.
• HDR Inc. Large multi-discipline engineering firm with established municipal water, transportation, and environmental practices. Larger and broader than McGill but competes for similar municipal engineering work, especially on larger water/wastewater projects.
• Arcadis: Global design and engineering consultancy with water, environmental, and resilience practices serving public sector clients. Competes in adjacent municipal infrastructure space as a larger diversified player.
• WSP: Global engineering consultancy with significant US municipal infrastructure practice including water and environment. Overlaps with McGill on municipal engineering work but operates at vastly larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with substantial water and municipal engineering practices. Overlaps with McGill on Southeast US municipal projects but offers a much broader portfolio and international reach.
• Black & Veatch: Engineering, procurement, and construction firm with deep water and wastewater specialty serving utilities and municipalities. Larger incumbent in the same water infrastructure market McGill serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcgill-associates-pa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 McGill Associates