The structural engineering firm Eclipse Engineering Inc., had a record setting revenue year in 2014.  And based upon its first quarter report for 2015, the company is prepared to top last year’s record.

“Typically it’s the second and third quarter that helps carry us through the first quarter,” says Brian Hanson, a principal owner and manager of the Spokane branch. “But the first quarter of ’15 was our best first quarter ever.”

The Spokane office is one of four locations the 16-year-old company has set up throughout the Pacific Northwest. Eclipse Engineering is headquartered in Missoula, Mont., and also has offices in Columbia Falls, Mont., and Bend, Ore. Thirty five employees—20 of whom are engineers—are spread across the four locations, says Eclipse’s Spokane office manager Ruth Ritterman.

Along with Hanson, owners of the firm include Jesse Fortune, Gretchen Iman, and Troy Leistiko, all of whom are in Missoula, while Rolf Armstrong is in the Bend office.

The Spokane office is located on the fourth floor of the Paulsen Center, at 421 W. Riverside downtown. The Spokane office has eight employees, five of whom are engineers. They are part of the four-office team that generated $4 million in revenue last year, Ritterman says.

While work on many projects touch desks in all four offices before completion, Hanson estimates that the Spokane office is responsible for generating 25 to 30 percent of the company’s overall annual revenue.

Eclipse Engineering does structural engineering for high-end residential, commercial, school, and religious buildings, Hanson says. The company also does a lot of “niche assignments” involving steel connection and fabric structures, Hanson says.

“You know those tall, curved buildings with white fabric that cover the hay? We do a lot of those,” Hanson says. “They aren’t sexy, but they pay a lot of bills.”

Hanson says the company provides key support for material handling specialists, such as pallet rack analysis and design, mezzanine structural design, and conveyor supports.

The company also works on specialty structures such as bridges, look-out and cellular phone towers, and zip-line platforms, Hanson says. Eclipse Engineering Inc., also performs structural assessments and seismic evaluations and retrofits, he says.

Leistiko was one of the original founders of the company in 1998. Hanson was hired by the company at the start and became a part-owner in 2006. He had a child at the time and a second on the way. With one set of grandparents in Kalispell, Mont., and the other in Olympia, Wash., he says he and his wife looked to find the most compatible halfway point between the two locations.

“That’s how this office got here,” he says. “There was really no rhyme or reason to be in Spokane. That’s also the case for the Bend, Ore., office. “It was set up because another manager’s in-laws are there,” he says.

Hanson initially opened the Eclipse Engineering office here in the Spokane Valley in 2007 before moving downtown in 2010. He says he moved the office downtown to have more exposure to Spokane’s architecture and engineering community.

“We had a lot of work set up, and then the economy collapsed,” he says.

That was about the time the time the company began applying for licenses to conduct business in more states beyond the Northwest. Eclipse now is licensed to do business in all 50 states and in seven Canadian provinces, he says.

Locally, Eclipse Engineering Inc., was chosen in March as the structural engineer for the new Post Falls Elementary School, Hanson says. Architects West Inc., of Coeur d’Alene, is currently designing that building, Hanson says. 

The company also provided structural engineering support for the Double Eagle Pawn Shop building at 315 E. Francis on North Spokane, which opened in 2012, says Hanson. The company also provided structural support for the 7,650 square-foot structure that houses Spokane Valley Fire Department No. 6 at 6306 E. Sprague, which opened in 2011, Hanson says.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the way the station turned out,” says Spokane Valley Fire Department Captain Rich Bruce. “This is one of the more comfortable—and functional—stations I’ve ever worked in.”

The challenge at that site, says Bruce, was the fact that the fire station immediately borders both east Sprague Avenue and east First Avenue, while Appleway Boulevard runs immediately behind First. Interstate 90 is also immediately to the west.

Despite the traffic congestion in the area, Bruce says all parties involved in the design and construction managed to do what he called a “great job” of creating a two-door, drive-thru apparatus bay, which allows for efficient emergency vehicle access both to and from the station, he says. 

Eclipse Engineer employees also have strong praise for their employer firm.

Sushil Shenoy is a project manager and engineer at Eclipse. He completed his undergraduate degree in civil engineering at Gonzaga University before earning a master’s in civil engineering from Virginia Tech University.

Shenoy says even the way he was hired nearly four years ago was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Shenoy and Lee French, also a project manager and engineer at Eclipse Engineering, knew each other before Shenoy went to work for the company.

“I was already friends with Lee,” Shenoy says.  “I came in one day to say hi to him, then he introduced me to Brian. Just like that it turned into an interview and he offered me a job.”

Hanson says the recession shaped his views on how to run a business.

“Being a smaller company you change your hiring processes and do things a little differently. I believe our company’s approach, pursuing niche and alternative projects, obtaining licenses to operate around the country and most of Canada, has allowed us to experience the kind of growth we’ve seen in the last couple of years,” he says.