Another corporate relocation won by Plano — Westwood Professional Services, a Minnesota-based engineering firm with 1,600 employees in 27 offices across the country.
According to the Dallas Business Journal, the firm already has a presence in the city with at least five of the firm’s senior leadership working at a Plano office located at 2901 Dallas Parkway. “Our corporate headquarters will be in Plano by year’s end,” Westwood’s Chief Operations Officer Bryan Powell told Dallas Business Journal.
The fast-growing company operates in several market segments including wind and solar energy, energy storage, power delivery, EV infrastructure as well as commercial, institutional, residential and public infrastructure. In recent years the firm’s long-term strategy to expand its existing markets and services led to the acquirement of some North Texas-based companies.
In 2021, the (at the time) 12th largest engineering firm in North Texas, Pacheco Koch Consulting Engineers, entered the Westwood corporate umbrella and on June 30, 2023, Westwood announced it acquired the North Texas-based Peloton Land Solutions, a land development firm in a bid to expand its existing markets and services.
"Their people are top of the industry and complement Westwood's strong team," said in an official statement Powell of the Peloton acquirement. "We look forward to the expansion of Westwood and the professional service capabilities we can offer clients."
According to the Dallas Business Journal, the company is targeting areas where people are moving for their expansion because that migration creates demand for housing, infrastructure and energy. “Where high population centers are, that’s where we want to invest…” he said. “Because of that, we’ll continue to invest heavily in the DFW market and Texas.”
While there is no announcement of new jobs being created with the headquarters relocation, the move will be another significant economic development for Plano, since these relocations mean that employees visiting for work bring an influx of money for local businesses.
“When a company is moving into the Dallas area, it includes everything from going to the place where the move is coming from, doing presentations there, showing them the typical type of housing, amenities, subdivisions, whatever Dallas has to offer," Century 21 Judge Fite Co.’s CEO Jim Fite told the Dallas Business Journal.
