Business Description
Hill International, Inc., with 4,600 professionals in 100 offices worldwide,
provides program management, project management, construction management, construction
claims and other consulting services primarily to the buildings, transportation,
environmental, energy and industrial markets. According to the edition of Engineering
News-Record magazine, Hill is the ninth largest construction management firm
and eleventh largest program management firm headquartered in the United States.
We compete for business based on a variety of factors such as technical capability,
global resources, price, reputation and past experience, including client requirements
for substantial experience in similar projects and claims work. We have developed
significant long-standing relationships, which bring us repeat business and
would be very difficult to replicate. We believe we have an excellent reputation
for attracting and retaining professionals. In addition, we believe there are
high barriers to entry for new competitors especially in the project management
market.
he process for acquiring business from each of our categories of clients is
principally the same, by participating in a competitive request-for-proposal
(“RFP”) process, with the primary difference among clients being
that the process for public sector clients is significantly more formal and
complex than for private sector clients as a result of government procurement
rules and regulations that govern the public-sector process.
Although a significant factor in our business development consists of our standing
in our industry, including existing relationships and reputation based on performance
on completed projects, our marketing department undertakes a variety of activities
in order to expand our exposure to potential new clients. These activities include
media relations, advertising, promotions, market sector initiatives and maintaining
our website and related web marketing. Media relations include placing articles
that feature us and our personnel in trade publications and other media outlets.
Our promotions include arranging speaking engagements for our personnel, participation
in trade shows and other promotional activities. Market sector initiatives are
designed to broaden our exposure to specific sectors of the construction industry,
such as, for example, participating in or organizing industry seminars.
CFR from U.S. and foreign government contracts represented approximately 53.6%
of our total CFR. Doing business with governments is complex and requires the
ability to comply with intricate regulations and satisfy periodic audits. We
believe that the ability to understand these requirements and to successfully
conduct business with government agencies is a barrier to entry for smaller,
less experienced competitors. Most government contracts, including those with
foreign governments, are subject to termination by the government, to government
audits and to continued appropriations.
We are required from time to time to obtain various permits, licenses and approvals
in order to conduct our business in many of the jurisdictions where we operate.
Our businesses of providing project management and construction claims services
are not subject to significant regulation by state, federal or foreign governments.
%
6.35% 