Depth of Field

Coffman Engineers has a deep bench and a far reach

By David A. James

hen companies are undertaking a new project and need engineering work done to get it off the ground, one of the best places they can turn to is Coffman Engineers. The Anchorage company presently has a staff of 135 trained in a range of engineering fields including civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, fire protection, and corrosion control services as well as trenchless technologies and landscape architecture. Working together, the team offers clients a one-stop-shop capable of taking a holistic approach to anything from large-scale industrial installations to small undertakings.

“We bring a real breadth of services through all the disciplines that we can handle in-house,” says Ben Momblow, managing principal of Coffman’s Anchorage office. “We provide the depth of a big bench with the numbers of employees and services we have in Anchorage. And if there are areas outside of that expertise or depth, we have the ability to pull in people from other parts of the company.”

Coffman is part of a Seattle-based business with offices in fourteen states and one US territory, but it has deep roots in Alaska. Momblow says founder Dave Coffman first came to the state shortly after the company opened its doors in 1979 to work on a project for what was then Anchorage International Airport.

From there, Momblow says, Coffman “started working on projects to support North Slope Borough in the development of Prudhoe Bay, man camps, industrial camps. And the company basically just took off.”

Today Coffman offers “all disciplines of engineering, landscape architecture, and construction management,” he says.

From its headquarters in Seattle, Coffman encourages its individual branches to tailor themselves to local contracting markets. “We have a decentralized model and one of our secrets to success, is the autonomy of our offices,” Momblow says. Corporate functions are performed in Seattle, and the Anchorage branch does report back to headquarters, he explains, but the office operates independently.

Momblow says this structure allows his workforce to serve Alaska’s unique needs.

“Our largest department is our corrosion control group,” he says.

Coffman performs corrosion control services for most of the state’s oil and gas operators, and many utilities. “We do field surveys throughout the summer on major pipelines and other critical infrastructure.

The company is also capable of taking on the sorts of jobs one wouldn’t find outside of Alaska.

“Right now, we have a project in the village of Savoonga for a reindeer processing facility that’s being constructed out there, as well as a fish processing plant,” Momblow explains.

Additionally, Coffman has a term contract with the Alaska District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, primarily working on buildings located on Alaska military bases.

“We were involved in some of the front-end planning for the F-35 facilities that went into Eielson Air Force Base,” he says. “We’re continuing to service the military on all kinds of projects at JBER, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson.”

Momblow says Coffman works with its clients from the ground up.

“A lot of times owners will come to us and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got this project. It needs to meet these requirements. This is about how big we’re thinking. Here’s our user groups.’” He continues, “We’ll work with them through a series of meetings to define what their requirements are, what their budget is, what their schedule is. Then we draft a technical document that is the request for proposals for somebody else to come in and either finish the design or build to those requirements.”

For a sizable job, the company appoints a project engineering manager whose task is to coordinate between different disciplines, establish the scope, schedule the budget for the projects, and be able to implement the company’s internal quality control plan and process.

Then it’s time to bring in the engineers. Momblow explains, “The project manager coordinates with them for the final stamping and sealing of all the plans and specifications before they’re delivered to our clients.”

Alice Bioff, business planning specialist with Kawerak, Inc., applauds Coffman’s ability to provide a range of services, highlighting the company’s work on the Savoonga Reindeer Commercial Company’s Reindeer processing facility.

“Their dedication, expertise, and tireless efforts to the project are beyond expectation,” says Bioff. “Their meticulous guiding of Savoonga/Gambell and Kawerak through various challenges, ensuring that we stayed on course, is very much appreciated.”

Coffman Engineers has the ability to customize its services to whatever its clients’ needs are.

“We are design professionals that typically work for the owner,” Momblow concludes. “We really try to offer scalable solutions.”