Barr Engineering Company
Barr provides engineering and environmental consulting services to clients across the Midwest, throughout the Americas, and around the world. We have been employee owned since 1966 and trace our origins to the early 1900s. Working together, our 700 engineers, scientists, and technical specialists help clients develop, manage, and restore natural resources. Barr’s project teams serve the power, mining, and fuels industries, natural-resource-management organizations, and others with complex problems. Our project sites range from iron-ore mines in South America to wind-power farms in South Dakota, from manufacturing facilities in California to oil-sands fields in western Canada.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Service provider
- Industry Type:
- Environmental
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
- Year Founded:
- 1966
- Employees:
- 101-1000
About Us
Barr provides engineering and environmental consulting services to clients across the Midwest, throughout the Americas, and around the world. We have been employee owned since 1966 and trace our origins to the early 1900s. Working together, our 700 engineers, scientists, and technical specialists help clients develop, manage, and restore natural resources.
Barr’s project teams serve the power, mining, and fuels industries, natural-resource-management organizations, and others with complex problems. Our project sites range from iron-ore mines in South America to wind-power farms in South Dakota, from manufacturing facilities in California to oil-sands fields in western Canada.
In 2010, Barr Engineering Co. launched Barr Engineering and Environmental Science Canada, Ltd. with an office in Calgary, Alberta.
our culture
our work reflects our values
At Barr, we pride ourselves on solving our clients’ problems as if they were our own. We’ll bring to your projects the insights and expertise we've gained from our work on thousands of projects—and a promise to do our best work on your behalf.
Barr’s client service covenant outlines our commitment to work with you, rather than just for you, and to:
keep your interests in mind
ask for your input
keep our word
make your life easier
provide honest answers
We provide our clients with the exceptional service they’ve come to expect by attracting and retaining employees who relish the challenge of complex projects. Our project teams unite seasoned professionals with engineers and scientists eager to learn—enabling us to bring energy, enthusiasm, and expertise to our work for you.
Barr is proud to be employee-owned and led for more than four decades. If you’re interested in joining us, please visit our Careers section to view job opportunities.
Giving Back
to the communities in which we live and work
At Barr, we’re grateful for the support of the communities in which we live and work. We give back to them by supporting worthwhile endeavors that range from collecting trash along highways to eradicating invasive species in public parks, from collecting toys for holiday giving to raising funds for medical research, from mentoring students to wielding our hammers for Habitat for Humanity.
As a reflection of our commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen, Barr contributes at least two percent of the company’s net annual profits to higher-education institutions and community charitable organizations such as the United Way. We support higher learning through donations and scholarships, and we recently worked with the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory to establish an endowed graduate fellowship in memory of Nels Nelson, a 30-year Barr employee and former chairman of the board, who passed away in 2010.
History
It was the early 1950s when Doug Barr first contacted Adolph Meyer, a renowned hydraulic engineer, about the prospect of work in Minnesota. Working with Meyer, Doug’s early projects involved hydraulic engineering and hydrology. One of these was the Nebraska Mid-State Irrigation Project, which involved designing 23 reservoirs, four hydropower plants, flood-control channels and dams, and irrigation delivery systems for a 500,000-acre area. Other early projects were at sites where Barr continues to work today and for clients with whom we have worked for decades.
By 1960, Doug was established as a one-person firm and ready to take on his first employee, John Dickson, who stayed until his retirement in 1997. These early years saw continued growth of Barr’s business with mining clients on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, as well as expansion of our services in the areas of structural and geotechnical engineering.
Barr’s growth led to its incorporation as an employee-owned firm in May 1966. Officially named Barr Engineering Co., it had 16 employees. Several are still with Barr, including senior engineer Len Kremer and Al Gebhard, who succeeded Doug Barr as the company’s president in 1985 and served until 1999. Doug Connell was named Barr’s president and CEO in 2000.
Today, we often work with clients on large, complex—and sometimes controversial—projects, for which we may provide everything from initial permitting and siting assistance through process and facility design to construction management, operation startup, and closure planning.
Over nearly half a century, Barr’s services have expanded to meet clients’ needs. We have also expanded geographically, opening offices in four states and Canada and merging with other firms to enable us to continue providing the level of service our clients have come to expect.