Steve Harrill, Vice President & Managing Principal – Jacksonville, Pond & Company
In an interview with Invest:, Steve Harrill, vice president of architecture and engineering firm Pond, discussed the firm’s recent projects, industry trends, and future growth opportunities in the Jacksonville area, highlighting Pond’s strategic expansion in both the public and private sectors.
In terms of the last year, what have been some of Pond’s main highlights or key milestones?
Pond is headquartered in Atlanta, and we have about 20 different offices. Jacksonville is one of them, and I’m the managing principal of the Jacksonville office. I head up our business operations in this region. Some of the key highlights this year include opening a facility for Boeing. We completed a $175 million project for their military aircraft maintenance operations here in Jacksonville. Additionally, we’ve added two other projects for Boeing — one recently opened to support their ongoing operations — and we are further expanding their campus by adding extensions to some of their existing buildings.
What’s exciting is that our work is helping Boeing grow in Jacksonville, bringing new employees and attracting spin-off companies. This expansion is contributing to the area’s economic growth, which is something we’re proud of.
What is your overview of the construction, design, and engineering industry in Jacksonville at the moment?
The market is strong. We’ve had record-breaking years for the past three or four years, setting new benchmarks each time. One sector that’s been particularly strong for us is the public sector, alongside private work. We do projects for the city, county, state, and federal government, as well as airport authorities and school systems. Across all these markets, we’ve seen continued growth.
However, a significant challenge we face is the labor shortage. It’s tough to find enough qualified people, such as architects, engineers, and environmental scientists, to keep up with the demand. Contractors are struggling to find skilled labor as well. With the city’s rapid growth, we’re all competing for a limited pool of talent.
Which industries present the largest opportunities for growth for Pond in Jacksonville?
We’ve been evaluating where the best opportunities lie, and we see strong growth in all those markets. The one we’re not involved in is multifamily residential, which has been robust here for several years, especially with the influx of new residents. However, I’ve heard that the rental market is starting to cool off. Recently, Jacksonville saw the largest drop-in rent rates in the country, so the multifamily sector may slow down. That could mean an uptick in single-family homes or condos, but that’s not a market we’re in.
On the public sector side, we’re heavily involved in various levels of government work, and on the private side, we work with clients like Amazon and Scannell Properties, a private developer. Overall, the market is strong across the board, and we expect that to continue.
Are there any areas or services you’re planning to expand within the Jacksonville office?
We have a strong architectural practice here, and it continues to grow. Our environmental services team is also doing well, and we have strong relationships with both state and federal environmental agencies, which is crucial when navigating Florida’s regulations, especially concerning wetlands and other permits.
From an engineering perspective, we have a transportation team that works on roads and bridges, which we see as another growing area. We’ve been doing this for a while, but we expect to expand and add more employees in this sector.
How does Pond leverage technology and innovation to deliver the best services in Jacksonville and Florida?
Technology plays a big role in how we deliver projects. For instance, most of our building projects are done in Revit, a 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, where we essentially construct the building virtually before it’s built in the field. This technology has been around for years, but it continues to evolve, adding features like energy modeling, which helps us deliver better projects.
We also use a lot of virtual meetings, which allow us to collaborate across all of our offices. If the expert we need isn’t in Jacksonville, we can still have them join the meeting remotely and share their expertise as if they were here. This ability to communicate and collaborate across locations has been a game-changer, especially since the pandemic pushed us to refine our virtual collaboration skills.
What are some of the other primary challenges in the industry right now, and how is Pond working to address them?
Funding cycles are always a concern, whether it’s public or private funding. Money drives business, and the availability of funds in different sectors affects who is doing the most work. We’ve seen a lot of public investment at the federal and state levels over the past few years, especially in response to the pandemic. While some of that may decrease, interest rates are starting to come down, which could lead to more private investment.
We expect to see a slight slowdown in public sector work but possibly more activity on the private side as borrowing becomes cheaper. It’s a balance between those two forces that will shape the market going forward.
What makes Jacksonville a unique market for Pond?
There are several factors that make Jacksonville a great market. First, Florida is the third most populated state in the country, and people continue to move here at a rapid pace. It’s an attractive place to live — good weather, no state income tax, and a high quality of life. Jacksonville, in particular, is appealing because of its rivers, beaches, parks, and outdoor recreation opportunities.
The business community here is collaborative and the city is pro-business, which makes it a good environment in which to operate. Another advantage is that Jacksonville has been growing steadily for the past decade, but it hasn’t experienced the kind of explosive growth that can overwhelm infrastructure. This manageable growth has made it a stable, appealing place to do business.
What are Pond’s main goals and priorities in Jacksonville over the next two to three years?
We plan to continue growing and accelerating that growth as much as possible. We see opportunities to expand in the state government market and the industrial sector. Another area we’re focusing on is the life sciences sector, where we’re developing specialized expertise in laboratory design. We believe this will help us become a go-to firm in that market.
