Bechtel moving after a century in San Francisco
International construction firm Bechtel Corp. plans to move its corporate headquarters from San Francisco to Reston, Va., by the end of this year, executives said Thursday, moving the company’s headquarters out of California for the first time in more than a century.
The firm’s Reston office has functioned as a de facto “operational headquarters” since 2011, with Chairman and Chief Executive Brendan Bechtel based there alongside about 1,300 employees.
Bechtel has been headquartered in San Francisco since the early years of the 20th century. But in recent decades the company’s business units in Houston and the D.C. area have grown to greater prominence as the firm’s work has grown with oil and gas construction services, management of nuclear facilities and government contracting.
“Over the last 15 years the customer base that supported our San Francisco office has diminished, and as a consequence the employee population in San Francisco diminished because the customers moved to other locations,” Bechtel chief operating officer Jack Futcher said Thursday. “We’re closing that chapter in the history of our company, but we’re opening a new chapter.”
The move is part of a broader consolidation effort to put the firm’s corporate management in one place.
About 150 managers and employees are being asked to relocate to Reston from Houston and San Francisco. The company plans to maintain a presence California to manage construction projects there, but its executives are considering whether to move those operations elsewhere within the city.
Executives are hoping that the transition to Reston will enable
more streamlined decision-making.
“This consolidation we believe will enable us to have more instantaneous communication by the senior leaders of the company,” Futcher said.
Bechtel’s business operations started in 1898 when founder Warren Bechtel built a sizable business constructing railroads in Oklahoma. The company relocated to San Francisco soon after. It worked on iconic projects across the Western United States, including Hoover Dam and San Francisco’s Bay Bridge.
The company has remained privately held under five generations of the Bechtel family. The most recent member, Brendan Bechtel, was appointed chief executive in 2016 and became chairman last year.
Government work has long been important to the company’s business.
It was involved in major construction efforts during and after World War II. It also was involved after the Gulf War, and has been a major recipient of U.S. military contract dollars.