Although based in Mobile, Ala., Volkert goes back to a small office in New Orleans. One hundred years since its founding, the company classified nationally – such as the number 90 in the list of 500 design companies of the 500 best in the ENR – drags more than 1,700 employees to more than 60 offices across the country. During the last decade, a significant part of this growth has been in Texas, expanding from an employee to 160 to eight offices in the state. Following a series of works in the main Txdot projects, Volkert is number 21 on the list of Texas and South South Design Companies -this year. In view of its significant growth in the region, Volkert was appointed design firm of the year for the Texas & Louisiana region.
Growth strategy
Volkert has experienced great growth in southern states, increasing its income by 21.7% from 2023 to 2024 in the regions of Texas and South East. Although their southeast revenue is certainly notable, up to 15.4% within this period, the results of Texas and Louisiana are outstanding, up to 48.8%. The employee ownership firm continues to be banking in its solid foundation in Louisiana. Volkert ceased to be a national level when he designed Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the 1950’s, which is still the longest continuous bridge over the current water.
Volkert’s work at the port of New Orleans, one of the most historical and significant ports in the country, goes back to the founding of the company 100 years ago. The work at Port Nola continues to this day. Among his recent projects, Volkert provided construction phase services for the Wharf project of Nashville Avenue. The project, which modernized a dock warehouse installation to accommodate a container shipment, won the best 2024 project in the airport/traffic category for Enr Texas and Louisiana.
Additionally, Volkert currently acts as an engineering and inspection of the construction of the phase and the I-10 CMA extension project in Baton Rouge, La. The project, which has the potential of being the largest infrastructure project in the state, will be expanded four kilometers of I-10 of the Mississippi River Bridge from six to eight lanes on I-0-0/I-2.
Volkert designed Lake Ponchartrain Causeway, which is still the longest continuous bridge over the world.
Picture courtesy of Volkert
Bigger in Texas
While the firm’s foot in Louisiana is still a constant source of business, the main engine of growth in the region has been its Texas operations. As the company has built a staff of more than 160 employees in the state, it has also been able to take advantage of experience throughout the organization. Trevor Reed, vice president and director of engineering in the Volkert southwest region, says the company is positioned to act as a small community office with access to important resources. “We aim to be big enough to import and small enough to take care,” he adds.
Although Volkert has long established himself in several southern states during his history, the firm did not commit to Texas until 2014. Directed by Travis Falls, Volkert Senior Vice President, the firm adopted the model of small offices. “My intention was always to start with these small offices around Texas, growing in areas that had good settings for engineering people, as well as engineering clients,” he says.
“When you do a good job and provide good customer service, growth will occur ex -mayor.”
– Travis Falls, Senior Vice President, Volkert
The firm’s Texas portfolio started modestly with a $ 30,000 sidewalk project for Early. But he had a greater view in mind, focused on getting txdot work. Falls says that the firm’s first major movement arrived in 2015, when he acquired the CEI business of a DBE company in the state. At the end of the year, the firm had 20 employees, including several former Txdot employees through acquisition.
Given the long deadlines of the Txdot projects, Volkert’s prospects could face a long way. However, the firm quickly monitored this effort to land a contract in 2017 to design a $ 107 million IH-35 exchange project in San Marcos. The project, which was completed in 2024, included five rebuilt bridges, intersections and ramps, improved pedestrians and bicycles and a new IH-35 structure to meet the goods cleaning requirements.
Following this victory of the project, the success of the firm increased, the landing contracts to serve as a principal engineer in the central sections and northern of the IH-35 Capital Express project in Austin. Its range included the provision of engineering design services to improve security, mobility and regional connectivity in the center of Austin. The North portion of $ 600 million CAPEX included a complete 12-mile reconstruction of IH-35 through North Austin and a complex exchange design with a divergent diamond.
The central portion of CAPEX of $ 3 million will re-connect the east and west communities, covering the interstate with “caps” to create park space above the IH-35, as well as adding paths of shared use for pedestrians and cyclists. The project includes the IH-35 tunnel engineering design, structural restoration of higher roofs, exchanges, signs, ITS, ramps, retaining walls, public services and bridges.
Volkert served as a main engineering company for the $ 107 million IH-35 million in the reconstruction of SH 123 Intersection in San Marcos, Texas. Was completed last year.
Picture courtesy of Volkert
Customer approach
Although its scope in time and budget is essential, Falls says that the firm has added an additional emphasis on customer service. Starting with no experience in the State, Falls says being a good partner in projects has been instrumental in establishing his reputation. “When you do a good job and provide good customer service, growth will reach exponentially,” he says. “It usually takes long, constant and slow growth for everyone to take their name, but the test is in the gut. Have you done what you said would you do?”
Tommy Abrego, head of Mobility35 programs in Txdot’s Austin District, says Volkert emphasized to participate with Txdot as a client. “There is designing the project, and there is a commitment to the client to understand the client’s needs in a project,” he says. “From a customer perspective, we are not in the dark in their processes and what they are doing with the project. They do a really good job to keep us informed about what is happening with their project. They are also very transparent with us. If there is a problem in the project, they bring us and respect that the client, as the project owner, must be the decision manager.”
As a company that had to settle among new customers, Volkert has also shown a desire to work with other companies nearby. The Austin Planning and Engineering Geotechnical and Engineering Geotechnical Business Business had only been in operation for two years when he started working for Volkert as a subconsult in his projects, including Capex. “Some companies that come from the state are starting to launch their weight and wait for the locals to bow down to them,” says Abrego. “This is something that will make the feathers of the locals upset. Volkert has been very careful in hiring key staff that Txdot knows, they are in Texas and understand the culture. This has achieved them wherever they are and the product speaks for itself.”
Promoted by the community, family -oriented
The establishment of a reputation in the state also feeds on the contracting efforts of the company. As a fast -growing company, Volkert needs experienced and new professionals. Trevor Reed, Vice President of Volkert, says the firm has directed several schools, particularly Texas A&M, Texas Tech and others from the University of Texas system. Although it may be a first job for many recruits, Reed assures that the firm is promoted as a place to build a race, where employees become owners through their employee’s actions program.
“We try to be extremely transparent, almost to our detriment, which we are playing in the long game,” he says. “I am a firm believer in our model, which is that it may not be rich tomorrow, but you will never be poor when it comes to your retirement planning. This is because we are playing in the long term. I am also quite clear, we are not always the ideal place to come if you only try the waters for engineering or civil transport.”
“We try to be extremely transparent, almost to our detriment, that we are playing a long -term game.”
—Revor Reed, Vice President, Volkert
The company also seeks to maintain an environment close to its offices, with the aim of a limit of 20 people per office. Reed says that having smaller offices creates a family atmosphere that promotes a greater connection with the community. “We support ourselves very much in our office leaders to be the hands of the community’s service and feet,” he says. “This is a fundamental value to us. In the community service, we have no problem with fundraising, but we want people to have experiences and carry out the service of the community beyond financial support.”
Although Volkert has already undergone great growth in Texas, thanks in large part to his participation in Megaprojects, Falls says that the firm sees much more a track ahead. “We always look at three, five and ten years,” he says. “ For us, motorway work is a growth curve. But then start to launch energy, ports, railways, airports, water, etc. and that adopt a different model.Each of these groups has the opportunity to make the same growth as transportation, adding them together, I would say that in a realistic way we should be in the range of a growth curve of 30% for the next three years. ”
Falls says that having enough employees to meet these demands is bewildering, but Texas operations have the ability to rely on their offices outside the state as needed. More local employees would also add more offices to the State, a factor that can affect their growth efforts.
“You have to manage this growth and manage these expectations,” he says. “For us, it still has to be promoted by the community, family -oriented and focused on quality customer service. If you do not do these things, we will not intentionally.”
