Parsons Corporation

History

Now in its 73rd year of operations, Parsons was founded by Ralph M. Parsons, a man who loved engineering and solving challenging problems. The story of this man—and the growth of the corporation he founded—offers insight into American entrepreneurship during post-World War II and a company’s evolution over more than seven decades as it meets the challenges of ever-changing business climates and fluctuating service markets. In the years of the rocket boom during the Cold war era, Parsons provided process engineering, facility design, construction and operation of various jet propulsion facilities—nuclear, chemical, and heavy fuels, provided electronics, instrumentation, and ground checkout systems design & engineering for aircraft, missiles and rockets.

Parsons’ legacy is seen in the design, engineering, and construction of some of the world’s most complex infrastructure and industrial facilities. One of Parsons’ many legacy projects was on the Alaska North Slope. Atlantic Richfield (BP) and Exxon (ExxonMobil) hired Parsons to perform an engineering study to determine if there was a way to overcome the incredible technical and logistical engineering challenges in Arctic oil production. Parsons’ innovative work transformed the oil industry. Another significant project was the new industrial city of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, situated on the Red Sea. The Royal Commission of Saudi Arabia selected Parsons to transform this historic harbor into a thriving, modern port complex through its master plan, design, and construction management services. This self-contained industrial city of more than 100,000 people produces oil, gas, and petrochemical products used worldwide.

Founder's legacy

Ralph M. Parsons left behind one of America’s largest engineering corporations, known then as the Ralph M. Parsons Company—and he contributed to other endeavors that live on to this day. In 1961, he founded the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation as the charitable giving arm of the company; when he died, he left the foundation 600,000 shares of the company and $4 million in cash. The foundation soon became entirely independent from the company and to this day has no financial interest in it, sharing only the name of their founder.

Markets

Parsons is a leader in many diversified markets with a focus on infrastructure, , defense, security, and construction. Parsons delivers design/design-build, program/construction management, systems design/engineering, cyber/converged security, and other professional services packaged in innovative alternative delivery methods to federal, regional, and local government agencies, as well as to private industrial customers worldwide. Parsons’ market strength comes from applying best practices to generate state-of-the-art solutions.

Landmark projects

Parsons is currently engaged in projects across the world including bridges, wastewater treatment facilities and homeland security. Such projects include the program/construction management and technical support services for multiple buildings on the Capitol Campus, vehicle inspection in New Jersey, emergency response and construction management in New York following Superstorm Sandy, program support services for the U.S. Army’s Training Support Systems Enterprise, managing information- and cyber-related risks for the intelligence community, program and constructions management for the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s multibillion-dollar capital improvement program, design of Oman’s new water reuse infrastructure, construction supervision of the Dubai Metro Red and Green Lines, technical support and program management as well as construction management and labor relations services for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s massive school building program, and managing general contractor services for Miami International Airport’s South Terminal, North Terminal, and MIA Mover construction projects.

Signature Projects

Parsons is currently engaged in countless projects across the world. From bridges to wastewater treatment facilities to homeland security, Parsons designs, builds, and manages projects for customers worldwide. Notable Parsons projects include:

Controversial projects

Parsons was awarded a contract for a $243 million project to build 150 health care centers in Iraq in March 2004. By March 2006, $186 million had been spent, with six centers complete and accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 135 centers only partly complete, and one reassigned to another contractor. USACE progressively terminated the contract from September 2005 to March 2006, eventually requiring Parsons to complete a total of 20 centers with the others to be completed by other contractors. The estimated cost for the completion of the other 121 centers was $36 million.

Parsons and USACE disputed the degree to which the final 20 centers were completed. A report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction cited problems, including "high turnover among government personnel... directions... given without agreement from the contractor... program managers' responsiveness to contractor communications, cost and time reporting, administration and quality assurance".

Voluntary Protection Program (VPP)

Parsons is one of only five companies in the United States that meets the requirements to participate in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Corporate VPP—a cooperative program that partners with employers and workers who have effective safety and health management systems and who maintain injury and illness rates below federal Bureau of Labor Statistics averages for their respective industries.

World’s Most Ethical Companies Rankings

In 2016—and for the seventh consecutive year—the Ethisphere Institute honored Parsons as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. This designation recognizes companies for their commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices, and corporate social responsibility.

ENR rankings

Every year, Engineering News-Record magazine performs an annual survey and ranks companies engaged in general contracting, specialty contracting, engineering, architecture, planning, and studies. The rankings are based on annual revenue at home and abroad, and they are further divided into specific market categories.

· ENR 2016 Top 500 Design Firms – Parsons ranked #10 overall for Top 500 Design Firms. In Top 20 Design Firms by Sector, Parsons ranked #4 in Transportation; #11 in General Building; #6 in Telecommunications; #8 in Sewer and Waste, and #9 in Hazardous Waste. In Top 50 Designers in International Markets, Parsons ranked #10.

· ENR 2015 Top 500 Design Firms – Parsons ranked #10 overall for Top 500 Design Firms. In Top 20 Design Firms by Sector, Parsons ranked #5 in Transportation; #9 in General Building; #5 in Telecommunications, and #12 in both Sewer and Waste and Hazardous Waste. In Top 50 Designers in International Markets, Parsons ranked #12.

In media and popular culture

Parsons been commended for workforce diversity in several publications:

Parsons is mentioned in the documentary No End In Sight, about the US war upon and occupation of Iraq. In the documentary, two US Marines comment that they had begun construction of border forts a year after Parsons had begun construction of their border forts nearby. The Marine, Seth Moulton, said "...we had our forts designed, built and dedicated in a period of about five months. I think when we left, the Parsons forts, which had been started maybe a year before we arrived were still not finished." The documentary goes on to say that while the forts built behind schedule by Parsons cost 1.2 million dollars, the Marines' forts built in conjunction with providing employment for Iraqis cost just $200,000 of US taxpayers' money.

Parsons is also notable to readers of John Perkins' book Confessions of an Economic Hitman, as the company that acquired Chas. T. Main Inc., a New England–based international engineering firm, which according to the book, acted as a consulting firm, trapping many Third World countries into international debts they could not repay.