industry engineering and construction founded california united states 1944 as ralph m. parsons company headquarters 100 west walnut street pasadena ca key people ralph m. parsons founder charles l. harrington ceo thomas l. roell group executive operations risk james r. shappell group executive development strategy george l. ball cfo rich mcfarland government relations erin m. kuhlman corporate relations mary ann hopkins group president chris alexander executive vice president revenue us 3.1 billion 2014 1 website www.parsons.com parsons corporation s headquarters in pasadena parsons corporation parsons is an engineering construction technical and management services firm headquartered in pasadena california . founded in 1944 by engineer ralph m. parsons parsons corporation is currently one of the largest such companies in the united states with more than 15 000 employees and revenues of 3.1 billion in 2014 . it is 100 % owned by its employee stock ownership trust . contents 1 history 2 founder s legacy 3 markets 4 landmark projects 5 signature projects 6 controversial projects 7 voluntary protection program vpp 8 world s most ethical companies rankings 9 enr rankings 10 in media and popular culture 11 references 12 further reading 13 external links history edit now in its 72nd 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 . 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 a project on the alaska north slope . atlantic richfield bp and exxon exxonmobil hired parsons to perform an engineering study that would 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 edit 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 edit parsons is a leader in many diversified markets with a focus on infrastructure industrial federal and construction . parsons delivers design design build program construction management 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 edit 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 edit 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 2 mda engineering and support services nasa goddard space flight center maryland dtra syrian chemical weapons elimination program salt waste processing facility phase ii south carolina vimy memorial bridge ottawa canada los angeles international airport tom bradley international terminal california dubai metro dubai uae doha expressway doha qatar foothill gold line california city of bakersfield wastewater treatment plant 3 expansion california glasspoint solar miraah 1000 mw solar steam plant amal oil field oman san antonio water system brackish water desalination program texas covanta h power facility expansion hawaii controversial projects edit 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 . 3 parsons and usace disputed the degree to which the final 20 centers were completed . 4 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 . 4 voluntary protection program vpp edit 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 edit 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 edit 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 . 5 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 . 6 in media and popular culture edit parsons been commended for workforce diversity in several publications in late 2015 and for the 4th year in a row parsons was designated a military friendly employer by victory media publisher of g.i. jobs magazine . criteria for this award include a benchmark score across key programs and policies such as the strength of a company s military recruiting efforts the percentage of new hires with prior military service company retention programs and company policies on national guard and reserve service . in march 2016 parsons was named as one of the top 50 employers for women engineers in the 25th annual edition of woman engineer published by equal opportunity publications eop . in july 2015 parsons was named a top 50 employer in workforce diversity for engineering & it professionals magazine published by eop . for 5 years parsons has been named as one of the top 50 employers for minority engineers in minority engineer magazine published by eop.the lanely institute depicted in the simpsons episode marge vs. the monorail bears an uncanny resemblance to parsons pasadena headquarters as one would approach the complex on north delacey avenue in old town pasadena . 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 . references edit http www.parsons.com about parsons pages financial highlights.aspx parsons financial highlights projects . www.parsons.com . retrieved 2016 09 30 . stuart w. bowen jr. february 15 2007 statement of stuart w. bowen jr. special inspector general for iraq reconstruction before the united states house oversight and government reform committee u.s. contracting in iraq pdf house government reform committee a b http www.govexec.com dailyfed 0506 050106 m1.htm the 2016 top 500 design firms . www.enr.com . retrieved 2016 09 30 . the 2015 top 500 design firms . www.enr.com . retrieved 2016 09 30 . further reading edit in depth company history from funding universe biography of founder ralph m. parsons from the ralph m. parsons foundation website external links edit parsons corporation website parsons careers ralph m. parsons foundation crucial iraq police academy a disaster the seattle times september 28 2006 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title parsons corporation & oldid 742041751 categories companies based in los angeles county californiacompanies established in 1944construction and civil engineering companies of the united statesengineering companies of the united statesprivately held companies 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