Coffman Engineers establishes Hawaii office

Spokane-based Coffman Engineers Inc. has opened a two-person office in Honolulu, the company said.

“We’ve been doing work there for seven years. We decided we needed to be part of that local community,” said Jennifer Van Vleet, Coffman’s vice president of marketing.

The company is an engineering and management consultant on commercial, government and industrial projects. Besides Spokane, it has offices in Seattle, Los Angeles and Anchorage.

Coffman Engineers employs 190 workers, about 50 of whom are in Spokane.

Recent work in Hawaii involved projects for corrosion control work for Chevron and Hawaiian Electric Co., and pipeline integrity for petroleum company Tesoro.

The company has also done military projects at Bellows and Hickam Air Force bases and the Schofield Barracks on Oahu.

Another reason for establishing an office is the likelihood of more military projects on Guam, said Van Vleet. Guam, a U.S. territory to the west of Hawaii, will be the relocation area for many U.S. troops that will begin leaving the Japanese island of Okinawa later this year.

With projects picking up in Hawaii, the Oahu office could grow to 10 to 12 workers in a few years, she said.