FORTUNE Ranks CH2M HILL One of “100 Best Companies to Work For”

By: Tessa Anderson
Source: CH2M HILL

26 January 26 2009 – CH2M HILL, a global full-service engineering, procurement, construction, and operations firm, has been ranked 86 on FORTUNE’s 12th annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. This is the fourth time the company has earned a spot on the prestigious list. The full list and related stories appear in the February 2 issue of FORTUNE, available on newsstands January 26 and at www.fortune.com on January 22.

“CH2M HILL is proud to receive this prestigious award for the second straight year,” says Lee McIntire, CH2M HILL’s chief executive officer. “This accomplishment was possible because of our people and their dedication to our company, our customers, and each other. Our ranking is the result of our employee-ownership culture, our commitment to develop our people, and our ability to provide them with an innovative, challenging, and high-integrity environment in which they can grow, learn, and excel in their careers.”

CH2M HILL employees often cite the opportunity to work on interesting projects that challenge their professional skills and improve the quality of the life in their communities as key reasons for joining and staying with the company. This pride and satisfaction in the company’s work is the reason that CH2M HILL employees refer more than 30 percent of the company’s new hires.

A sampling of these CH2M HILL projects include the following:

Development of the world’s first carbon-neutral, “green” community in Masdar City, a two-square-mile area in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Program management for the $5.25 billion, 7-year Panama Canal expansion, leading to a third set of locks and deepened and widened channels to accommodate post-Panamax shipping.
Implementation of cutting-edge water treatment technology in arid regions, including water recycling in Australia, desalination in the Middle East, and natural and state-of-the-art treatment in Aurora, Colorado.
Helping meet the world’s future energy needs by providing engineer, procure, construct (EPC) services and oil field operations in the Arctic, EPC for power plants in Australia, landfill gas utilization in China and solar manufacturing in Spain.
Oversight of the design and construction of the venues and infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of the CLM Delivery Partner.
Prime contractor for the safe, environmental cleanup of the $4.5 billion, 5-year Central Plateau of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford nuclear site in south-central Washington state.
Management of a $10 billion military base relocation program for the U.S. and South Korean governments.
Management and operations of a full spectrum of municipal services for cities from Georgia to Colorado.
Support for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide temporary housing for affected residents following natural disasters such as the West Coast wildfires and the recent Midwest flooding and tornadoes.

CH2M HILL was selected, in part, due to its comprehensive and ongoing training and professional development programs (on average, each full-time employee at CH2M HILL participates in 16 hours of training annually), employee-ownership culture (more than 60 percent of employees own stock in the firm), and work-life balance programs (10 percent of employees take advantage of CH2M HILL’s flexible work schedules by working compressed weeks and five percent of employees telework).

FORTUNE’s annual ranking is determined through an extensive nomination and application process. Two-thirds of the score is based on how randomly-selected employees respond to a 57-question survey created by the Great Place to Work Institute. The other third is based on the company’s responses to the Institute’s Cultural Audit.

The company has also been recognized as a Most Admired Company by FORTUNE magazine for the past six years.

In January 2009 CH2M HILL became the first engineering and construction firm to win the Catalyst Award, which annually honors innovative organizational approaches with proven, measurable results that address the recruitment, development, and advancement of all women, including women of color.

Headquartered near Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in engineering, procurement, construction, management and operations for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. With $6.4 billion in revenue and more than 25,000 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record (2008). The firm's work is concentrated in the areas of energy, water, transportation, environmental, nuclear and industrial facilities. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer, including being named by FORTUNE as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For (2009).
Visit www.ch2mhill.com.