Investing in Sustainability with Trilon Group and Alta Planning

Infrastructure is the lifeline of our local communities.

Done well, civil infrastructure involving electric power, oil and gas, water, transportation, and more can change lives for the better by promoting economic opportunity, equity, sustainability, and safety. Trilon Group, an Alpine Investors-backed civil engineering and infrastructure consulting firm platform, invests in talent, technology and targeted M&A of top firms to deliver effective infrastructure solutions that might, in turn, bring about such sustainability benefits.

The work actively supports two of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

1. Goal nine, to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation; and
2. Goal 11, to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Thinking Green While Building Stronger Communities

Partnering with Trilon helps infrastructure firms do more for their mission. Take Alta Planning and Design, for example. The Portland, Oregon-based firm’s core purpose is to mitigate climate change and advance safety and social justice through sustainable mobility. Prior to joining Trilon Group in 2022, Alta was known nationally as a leader in the planning and design of sustainable and progressive infrastructure, including bike paths and outdoor trails.

There was tremendous demand for Alta’s important work, but the company’s employees were stretched thin and unable to take on all the projects they wanted to.

Enter Trilon. Trilon partnered with Alta in August of 2022 and immediately made growth investments to help Alta scale. The inspiring results in the last 15 months include:

• Increased demand – Alta’s project backlog has grown 153%, driven by the ability to sell their unique specialty services across Trilon’s customer base nationwide.
• Increased headcount – Alta’s headcount is up 10% from 185 to 203 and the company is seeking to add another 20 staff members this year to support increased demand. Alta drove this growth by tapping into Trilon’s team of in-house recruiters to attract world-class planners and engineers excited about their mission.
• Growth in leadership – The Trilon partnership allowed the former Alta President to retire, a new Alta President to be promoted internally and several additional leaders in strategy and finance to be hired or promoted to help drive this next phase of growth.

These growth investments have been game-changing for Alta. Growth allows Alta’s employees to achieve new career opportunities they never would have had before, while the firm is able to deliver more sustainable projects than ever before.

Alta In Action

Here is a sample of a few projects Alta worked on in 2023:

Atlanta Beltline Westside Extension

Alta is leading a team for the design and construction of the Atlanta Beltline Westside Extension, which endeavors to catalyze job creation, inclusive transportation, climate positive action and affordable housing by closing a 1.3-mile gap in the circuitous rail trail (a former railway path converted to a recreational path) system. With an intention to be climate positive, the team used environmentally resilient materials and green infrastructure throughout the design.

Urban Heat Island Effect

One of the most effective measures for reducing emissions is to drive less. However, extreme heat and traffic safety are two key barriers to walking, biking and taking transit. Alta developed a conceptual plan intended to mitigate the threats of extreme heat, called the Urban Heat Island Effect, and other climate change impacts in the neighborhood of Canoga Park, Los Angeles. This project explored the intersection of traffic safety and safety from extreme heat to create opportunities for safer, more environmentally friendly travel options.

Great Springs Trail

In planning for the Great Springs Trail in central Texas, Alta developed an Economic Benefits Report to quantify the financial return from the 100+-mile trail network and 50,000 conserved acres of land in the corridor. These findings include the estimate that these conservation efforts not only might protect water quality, water supply and wildlife habitat but might also preserve working lands while protecting people and property from flood damage. Additionally, the findings indicate that the trail could replace 12.9 million motor vehicle miles each year with bicycle and pedestrian trips.

Trilon is looking forward to continuing to scale Alta’s impact, mission and vision even further by investing in the business’s continued growth, in the same way it scales the impact of all partner firms.

“One of our primary focuses at Trilon is on advancing infrastructure that connects communities and creates sustainable outcomes,” says Trilon Group CEO Michael “Mick” Renshaw. “Each of our partnered firms have a unique hand in creating critical, positive environmental impact, and we take great pride in supporting those missions.”

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