No. 25 Laulea Engineering
Revenue Growth: 86%
Wesley Wong attributes the organic growth of Laulea Engineering to his mission-driven approach, dedication to environmental preservation, and gratitude for overcoming one of his largest challenges as an employer: rebuilding his team in 2018, when a mass turnover forced him to shoulder the work of four staff, by himself, for a year and a half.
“When running a business, there’s a lot of things that could go wrong – but it’s up to you to commit to your mission and end goal and take adversity in a positive manner,” Wong said in an interview with Pacific Business News.
Since then, he has filled the positions with skilled talent, including a new environmental manager and professional engineer.
Born and raised on Oahu, Wong studied civil engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, worked in California for a year, then returned home and joined the corporate engineering scene at CH2M Hill as the primary designer and project manager of a large capacity cesspool conversion. There, he gained knowledge in onsite decentralized wastewater systems and the confidence to start his own company.
“I always envisioned being a business owner and having some form of positive impact on the environment and my community as a whole,” he said.
The locally owned and operated engineering firm was established in 2013 as a means to make some extra cash – but it quickly evolved by word of mouth. Wong came on full time in 2016 to primarily manage individual wastewater system projects. The company later grew to specialize in design, site development and environmental compliance projects for private residential and commercial clients.
According to Wong, the Covid-19 pandemic didn’t affect business; there was actually a slight uptick, which he attributes to more schedule availability for infrastructure improvements.
“We have 40 active projects currently and they range from well monitoring to wastewater treatment design,” he said.
Wong said what sets his business apart from other engineering firms is its focus on sustainability to protect the aina. It also has explored new technologies and more efficient ways of treatment to reduce costs in addition to developing new ideas that could retrofit cesspools.
There are about 88,000 cesspools in Hawaii that release approximately 53 million gallons of raw sewage into the groundwater per day, according to data released by the state Department of Health. In 2017, Act 125 was passed requiring the replacement of all cesspools by 2050 – this greatly impacted Laulea Engineering by making property owners more aware of the issue.
“Even though we’re a small company, I’m grateful and proud of securing larger wastewater treatment plan upgrades on Kauai and the more rural areas of Oahu,” Wong said.
As a business owner, he also places great value on getting involved in the local community as an advisory board member for two nonprofits to help the state address sewage pollution and ocean conservation: Wastewater Alternatives and Innovations, or WAI, and Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.
“I encourage all my employees to be active,” he said, “[As for advice for future business owners], don’t be afraid to ask for help – talk to your mentors and to your friends because people are there, and want to help. And offer to do the same to your younger peers.”
Q&A
What contributed to your revenue growth from 2017 to 2019?
I believe that our revenue growth is attributed to a few things. I believe that our quality of work and ability to collaborate with our clients' needs allowed for some repeat business and referrals to other client projects. In an industry that is mainly conservative, we try to apply progressive and innovative approaches to our designs of wastewater systems. Also, we had some personnel transition allowing us to add more experience in our team resume and we increased our scope of services adding in environmental compliance work.
Another thing to attribute our revenue growth to is alignment with some new/renewed government focus, specifically the requirement to close out or upgrade all cesspools by the year 2050. Increased attention to this issue and known environmental hazard from cesspools, especially the extremely high number of active cesspools, led to the public awareness and intention of property owners to close or convert any cesspools that may still be in use.
What is your No. 1 priority for the year ahead?
No. 1 priority for the year ahead is to solidify our team with an additional hire and keep delivering quality work. We have an emphasis on company culture in mission driven work as well as a good work-life balance. We want to be a company at the top of the list when people are searching for the services we offer.