We’re committed to exceeding client expectations, and it shows. SWCA is consistently ranked among the top environmental firms globally. Below are our most recent industry awards and other tokens of recognition.
Engineering News-Record (ENR) Rankings
SWCA Chosen 2023 Colorado Design Firm of the Year
Cushing Terrell, SWCA Named ENR Mountain States Design Firms of the Year
2024 Top 500 Design Firms:
- Ranked #107 nationally
2024 Top 100 Pure Designers
- Ranked #89 nationally
2024 Top 200 Environmental Firms:
- Ranked #14 nationally among purely environmental consulting firms
- Ranked #76 nationally
2024 Regional Top Design Firms:
- Ranked #10 in the Southwest
- Ranked #21 in the Mountain States
- Ranked #24 in the Intermountain States
- Ranked #25 in California and Hawaiʻi
- Ranked #40 in the Northwest
- Ranked #46 in New England
- Ranked #41 in Texas and Louisiana
- Ranked #88 in New York and New Jersey
- Ranked #9 in Nevada
- Ranked #101 in the Midwest
- Ranked #99 in the Southeast
- Ranked #102 in the Mid-Atlantic
ENR’s 2024 Top 500 Sourcebook provides market analysis and rankings of the largest U.S.-based architectural and engineering firms in the eight major industry sectors and by specific project types.
- Top Design Firms in Oil and Gas – Petroleum: #15
- Top Design Firms in Oil and Gas – Pipeline: #5
- Top Design Firms in Power – Power: #29
- Top Design Firms in Power – Transmission and Distribution: #22
- Top Design Firms in Power – Wind Power: #10
- Top Design Firms in Manufacturing, Telecom – Mining: #9
2024 TOP DE&I Awards from AEC Advisors
SWCA has been honored with two prestigious awards from AEC Advisors in their 2024 State of the Industry Report. SWCA secured top positions in both the Total Combined Index and the Gender Index for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) efforts. This recognition is a testament to our unwavering commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace, aligning perfectly with our North Star of building the best workplace.
2024 Best Place to Work AWARDs FROM COMPARABLY
SWCA has won multiple 2024 Best Place to Work Awards from Comparably, the workplace culture platform that generates millions of anonymous employee ratings across 70,000 companies.
- Best Career Growth
- Best CEO
- Best Company Compensation
- Best Company Culture
- Best Company Outlook
- Best Leadership Team
- Best Perks & Benefits
- Best Work-Life Balance
- Happiest Employees
2023 EBJ Business achievement awards
SWCA was awarded two 2023 Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) Business Achievement Awards. SWCA earned the Business Achievement Gold Medal, second year in a row, for achieving record-breaking business growth in 2023, exceeding our goals with over $315 million in sales and increasing revenue 31% over 2022 and the Mergers and Acquisitions Award for acquiring ALO Advisors, an esteemed international management consulting firm focused on sustainability advisory services.
SWCA was awarded a 2023 Climate Change Business Journal (CCBJ) Project Merit Award. SWCA earned the Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Project Merit Award for collaborating with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to stabilize a vulnerable stretch of highway using a living shoreline and coastal restoration.
2023 Environment Analyst’s Top 100
SWCA was ranked #25 in Environment Analyst’s Top 100 Global Environmental & Sustainability (E&S) Consulting Industry Firms of 2023. Environment Analyst’s Global Market Assessment provides a unique window into market dynamics, and was researched and written based on their annual survey process and rigorous engagement and verification with the Global 32 (and wider top 100) firms.
2023 Zweig Group Marketing Excellence Award
SWCA was awarded first place in Zweig Group’s External Newsletter category for our bi-annual, client-focused magazine, The Wire. The Marketing Excellence Awards recognize outstanding and effective marketing in the AEC industry based on overall creativity, messaging, results achieved by the campaign, and level of design.
2023 Zweig Group Hot Firm Award
SWCA has been ranked #56 on Zweig Group’s 2023 Hot Firm List, which honors the fastest-growing architecture, engineering, environmental, planning, and construction (AEC) firms.
2023 BEST PLACE TO WORK AWARDS FROM COMPARABLY
SWCA has won multiple 2023 Best Place to Work Awards from Comparably, the workplace culture platform that generates millions of anonymous employee ratings across 70,000 companies.
- Best Company Outlook
- Best Marketing Teams
- Best Career Growth
- Happiest Employees
- Best Company Compensation
- Best Company Perks & Benefits
- Best Company for Women
- Best Company Culture
- Best CEO
2022 EBJ Business Achievement Awards
SWCA was awarded three 2022 Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) Business Achievement Awards. SWCA earned the Business Achievement Gold Medal for Large Firms ($100 million+), the New Practice Award for Response Management, the Diversity & Inclusion Award for our Future of Work workplace model that emphasizes flexibility, adaptability, and equitable support and development for all employees.
2022 ECOVADIS SILVER MEDAL
EcoVadis is a well-known assessment and rating service that issues scorecards for business sustainability efforts. Since its founding in 2007, Ecovadis has rated over 90,000 companies including, recently, SWCA. The process was instructive, and we are pleased to announce that we scored in the 78th percentile and were awarded a Silver Medal. Our score illustrates the robust sustainability foundation that has been developed over the past decade and most recently with the Environmental Sustainability Committee and Green Team Network.
2022 Environment Analyst’s Top 100
SWCA was ranked #38 in Environment Analyst’s Top 100 Environmental & Sustainability (E&S) Consultancy Firms 2022. This unique, comprehensive dataset, was compiled through rigorous research of, and engagement with, the leading firms, and provides critical, independent market intelligence to help business owners, directors and investors with their planning and investment decisions.
2022 BEST PLACE TO WORK AWARDS FROM COMPARABLY
SWCA has won multiple 2022 Best Place to Work Awards from Comparably, the workplace culture platform that generates millions of anonymous employee ratings across 70,000 companies.
- Best Company Outlook
- Best Places to Work in Phoenix
- Best Marketing Teams
- Best Operations Teams
- Best Leadership Teams
- Best Career Growth
- Best Company Compensation
- Best Company Culture
- Best Company for Women
- Best Company for Diversity
2021 Lifetime Achievement Award and Earth Science Pioneer Award
The Environmental Business Journal has named SWCA founder, Dr. Steven W. Carothers, as a 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award and Earth Science Pioneer Award recipient. These two awards recognize Dr. Steven W. Carothers’ contributions to the environmental industry.
2021 Zweig group marketing excellence award
SWCA was awarded first place in the Zweig Group’s 2021 Marketing Excellence Awards in the Recruitment/Retention category in recognition of the SWCA Career Landscape, an innovative career development program designed to help employees chart their unique paths for rewarding careers at SWCA.
2020 EBJ Business achievement awardS
SWCA was awarded two 2020 Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) Business Achievement Awards. SWCA earned the award for COVID Resilience: Record Sales and Key Initiatives for sustained growth in the face of a global crisis and the COVID Response: People First for taking a people-first approach to the pandemic.
2020 SMPS Marketing Communication Award
SWCA’s client newsletter, The Wire, received a 2020 Marketing Communication Award in the external newsletter - mixed media category from the Society for Marketing Professional Services.
2020 Zweig Group Hot Firm Award
SWCA is ranked #15 on the Zweig Group’s 2020 Hot Firm list. The list, which honors the fastest-growing firms in the AEC industry, is based on three-year growth in revenue, by both percentage and dollar growth.
2020 Burton Award
SWCA employees co-authored a legal paper titled “NEPA Streamlining Yet Again: Will the Diet Work This Time?” published in Natural Resources & Environment. The article earned the authors a Distinguished Legal Writing Award from The Burton Awards program.
2019 EBJ Business achievement award
SWCA earned the gold award for mid-size firms for outstanding business achievement for opening offices on both the east and west coasts, contributing to continued growth in company size and revenue.
2019 Transportation Project of the Year Award
SWCA Environmental Consultants was awarded the California Transportation Foundation’s (CTF) Project of the Year Award for the San Gabriel Railroad Trench Grade Separation—Alameda Corridor East. The CTF Transportation Awards recognize excellence in California transportation in 2018, all modes, public and private sector, and from all regions of the state.
2018 California Preservation Award - Los Angeles Conservancy
A project to update a California city’s historic preservation ordinance, managed and supported by SWCA’s Pasadena staff, has been recognized as among the best of its type with the Los Angeles Conservancy’s prestigious 2018 Preservation Award.
2018 California Preservation Design Award - CTF
The City of San Gabriel Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources Ordinance Update is the winner of a 2018 Preservation Design Award by the California Transportation Foundation. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists.
2017 Best Interactive Web Mapping Application
SWCA along with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) won “Best Interactive Web Mapping Application” at the 2017 UGIC Conference for the Jordan River Comprehensive Management Plan Story Map.
2016 Historic Preservation Award
The SWCA project team responsible for discovering human footprints that date back 2,500 to 3,000 years at a road-construction site just north of Tucson, Arizona, received a preservation award from the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. The awards ceremony honored individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to historic preservation in Tucson and Pima County.
2016 Governor’s Heritage Award
The SWCA project team responsible for completing the Trans-Canyon Water Line Documentation Project received a 2016 Governor’s Heritage Preservation Honor Award at the Arizona Historic Preservation Conference in Phoenix. The award, presented by the Arizona Preservation Foundation and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, recognizes people, organizations, and projects that represent outstanding achievements in preserving Arizona’s prehistoric and historic resources.
Premier Award for Client Satisfaction - PSMJ Resources, Inc.
SWCA received a 2015 PSMJ Premier Award for Client Satisfaction in the honorable mention category. Presented in partnership with the Client Feedback Tool, the 6th Annual Premier Awards honor architecture, engineering, and construction firms that provide their clients with top-quality communications, impressive performance, and cost-effective solutions.
Marketing Award - Society for Marketing Professional Services
SWCA’s client newsletter, The Wire, received a first-place 2014 Marketing Communication Award in the external newsletter category from the Society for Marketing Professional Services at the national level and at the Arizona Chapter level.
Los Angeles Architectural Award of Excellence
SWCA received a 2014 Award of Excellence from the Los Angeles Business Council for our work on the Tongva Park and Ken Genser Square project in Santa Monica. SWCA was part of the team recognized with a Los Angeles Architectural Award in the category of landscape architecture and public open space.
San Gabriel Martin E. Weil Award
The City of San Gabriel presented the 2013 San Gabriel Martin E. Weil Award for historic preservation and conservation to the ACE San Gabriel Millrace Relocation project. The city also presented a certificate of congratulations to John Dietler, SWCA’s Pasadena-based Cultural Resources Program Director, for his role in the project.
Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award
The city of New Braunfels, Texas, bestowed upon SWCA the 2013 Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award. The award recognizes a citizen or group that advocates studying, teaching, documenting, and preserving the natural resources in New Braunfels. SWCA received the award for turtle research in Comal Springs led by Houston ecologist and herpetologist Eric Munscher. The volunteer turtle surveyors have logged more than 1,800 hours since the project began in 2011.