February 2, 2021

What a year?! It was definitely not what we expected as we sat down at the end of 2019 and looked into our crystal ball. There seemed to be one crazy/scary/surprise event after another causing the world to spin the opposite direction. With so much going on around the world we relied on one constant, our firm. We feel fortunate to have the stability in Art Anderson Associates and know the relationships that we have developed with clients, subcontractors, and the community over decades of hard work made that possible. There were surely some bumps in the road causing stress levels to rise, however, they were relatively easy to manage. I credit this to the strength of our employees and great clients around us that helped make things “not so bad!”.

Like the rest of corporate America, we quickly became experts in the art of teleworking and online meetings. We optimized software tools to keep design collaboration and the sharing of information easy and efficient. While we did just that, mastering a new means of working, we miss the in-person interactions.

2020 was challenging but we have a lot to celebrate and look forward to. Some key positive internal events that shaped our 2020 year include:

• Hiring of several new engineers and marketing professionals
• Promoted Brad Ginn to lead our Facility Engineering division
• Successfully completed of one of the company’s largest projects ever, the Cougar Reservoir Floating Screen Structure for the USACE
• New IDIQ contract wins for new and existing clients
• Won three (3) new Research and Development projects
• Phase I award of Small Business Innovative Research project for US Marine Corps
• Part of the design team for the new Washington State Ferries Hybrid Electric Vessel
• Two engineers passed their Professional Engineering exams!

We were not protected from the disasters of 2020 including the COVID-19 pandemic, political protests, and racial injustices. We mourned the loss of life and united together to stand up for what was right. There is much more work to be done, but we feel we are moving in the right direction.

2021 Goals

• Cultivate, enhance, and build relationships.
• Use what we have learned from working virtually to improve how we operate.
• Focus on new and existing strategic partnerships to capture projects.
• Advance internal operational success in security, controls, and technology.
• Have FUN!

We look forward to what lies ahead of us in 2021. We will continue to provide the best value we can to our current clients, look to create and cultivate new relationships, and live in a workplace that thrives on diversity, innovation, and solutions.