About Us

History

A civil engineering firm, Humber Design Group, Inc. was founded in 2014 by a team of experienced civil engineers with a track record working together to provide civil engineering services throughout the Portland/Vancouver metro area.

Specialty

Humber Design Group specializes in the civil engineering and re-engineering of all types and sizes of projects throughout the Pacific Northwest. Our specialty is Urban Civil Engineering – working within the fabric of a built environment, and working in highly urbanized environments. Because of our extensive experience in this area and the knowledge that comes with it, we can help keep projects in the urban setting on track.  Of course, Humber Design Group provides civil engineering services for projects on undeveloped land as well, taking our client’s projects from concept to completion across a wide variety of sectors including residential, commercial, transportation, education, and more.

City of Portland Public Works Permitting

HDG specializes in Urban Civil Engineering – defined as working within an existing environment of structures and infrastructure.   This expertise has led to HDG’s involvement in and, subsequently, extensive experience working with local jurisdictions.  We are currently processing more than 50 public works permits through the City of Portland.   In addition to our hands-on technical experience, we maintain our knowledge and familiarity with local jurisdictions, permitting, and processes to the benefit of our clients.  We actively participate in City committees, building relationships and knowledge to continually work in partnership instead of as an adversary with jurisdictions, and maintain open lines of communication that often include a quick sit-down meeting to work through an issue.

Goals

Our goal at Humber Design Group is to turn our clients’ challenges into opportunities. We believe our civil engineering work needs to be both innovative and meaningful so that we can bring value to the communities we live and work in, as well as the world around us. We also understand that this is a relationship-based industry and take great pride in providing excellent customer service throughout all stages of a project. As a result of this, we enjoy a very high level of client retention.

Sustainability at Work

As a firm, Humber Design Group is committed to being socially responsible for our environment and our community.  As a reflection of our efforts, we are Sustainability at Work Silver Certified with the City of Portland and received Oregon Business Magazine’s 100 Best Green Workplaces in Oregon recognition in 2019.  These certifications recognize our efforts to minimize our impact on the environment and positively influence our community.  Some of our sustainable practices include:

• Actions to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle such as paperless alternatives, reusable dishware, composting, and recycling. From toner cartridges and batteries to paper, cardboard, plastic, and bottles, we recycle everything.  We have a recycling station in our office and one in our building as well.  We are also in what we consider a recycled building – an old warehouse/industrial building renovated into creative office space.  It’s just plain cool, and in our opinion, a more environmentally friendly way to roll.  We love to find new ways to be sustainable.  Keeping with this theme, our kitchen table is made of refurbished wood from an old barn.  We also provide annual employee education on effective recycling and other subjects related to a greener, more environmentally friendly approach.  Do you know the current best practices for recycling?  You can contact the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability for fantastic speakers willing to share information about this and other ways in which we can all help out.

• Transportation Alternatives. Our promotion of transportation alternatives is endless and appears in tangible ways in our office, such as our company bike rack that several employees utilize on a regular basis.  We also bundle deliveries whenever possible so that one trip can be taken instead of multiple, and we have a Uber for Business account, allowing those that don’t drive to work access to transportation during the day should they need to travel to job sites.  We participate in local activities to promote alternative transportation as well.  In 2018, Humber Design Group participated in The Street Trust Bike More Challenge.  Our team accumulated 1,400 miles cycling to and from work, to meetings, and even to favorite local lunch spots.  As a company, we had 50% participation.

• Additional Actions. Our sustainability practices extend beyond some of the more common practices noted above.  Humber Design Group is a City of Portland Green Street Steward, helping to care for and maintain Portland’s green streets.  We also have monthly team lunches to support local restaurants.  Additionally, our program extends to energy and water use efficiency best practices, environmentally friendly cleaning products, using and procuring from local businesses, and serving and volunteering in our community.

You can learn more about Portland’s Green Street Steward program here:  https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/52501

You can learn more about the Bike More Challenge here:  https://www.lovetoride.net/oregon?locale=en-US

You can learn more about the City of Portland’s Sustainability at Work program here:  https://www.portlandoregon.gov/sustainabilityatwork/62171