Our History

For forty years, a growing group of TRC engineers and scientists have served a broad range of government and industry clients –implementing complex projects from initial concept to delivery and operation. We are proud to have developed scientific and engineering methodologies that are used in the environmental business today - helping to balance environmental challenges with the need for economic growth.

While we began as a firm focused on meteorological and air quality research, the Company has grown into an integrated provider of diversified services to the environmental, energy, and infrastructure markets.

Our Founding

TRC had its origins with the Travelers Weather Research Center, an affiliate of the Travelers Insurance Company. The Center was formed to provide improved weather forecasts in view of significant property losses by insurance carriers from severe storms. As one of the country’s first privately owned weather research centers, it pioneered the use of sophisticated statistical methods, mathematical models and early computers to significantly improve weather forecasting techniques.

1960s

In the early 1960s, Travelers Insurance Company recognized that the environmental movement was underway, having been precipitated by several severe air quality problems in this country and abroad in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1961, Travelers formed a wholly owned subsidiary, The Travelers Research Corporation, which folded in the research segments of the Weather Research Center and added staff in anticipation of forthcoming federal regulations controlling air quality. In the late 1960s, Travelers decided that they were being drawn too far away from their traditional insurance market and offered The Travelers Research Corporation to the University of Connecticut as a non-profit foundation. In response, 22 environmental quality and waste management employees decided to strike out on their own as The Research Corporation of New England, also known as TRC. With Travelers’ blessing, TRC was incorporated in the State of Connecticut in 1969. As recognized pioneers in the air sciences, this group, now operating in the private sector, performed meteorological work for the government and industry, including air dispersion modeling, stack sampling and air pollution prevention. TRC modelers led the way in developing methods to assess air quality outdoors. In order to predict exposures to occupants of buildings, TRC, under the sponsorship of EPA, conducted the first major study of the relationships between outdoor and indoor air quality.

1970s

In 1971, TRC was acquired by VAST, Inc., a publicly-traded company involved primarily in oceanographic and sonar buoy testing for the U.S. Navy. TRC was VAST’s most viable unit, with projects including a task order contract for EPA’s Northeast and Caribbean areas to determine long range ecological effects of oil spills and a contract for the Connecticut DOT providing assistance in evaluating implications of proposed transportation plans.

In 1975, VAST lost its Navy contract, but TRC, the environmental research unit, remained profitable and continued to grow. In 1977, VAST officially changed its name to TRC, reporting net service revenue of about $3 million. TRC produced its first Annual Report under its own name, replacing the cover photos of Navy subs at sea with rubber-booted scientists ankle-deep in a stream performing a biological impact study. The 1970’s were the formative years for the environmental quality planning and monitoring business as numerous laws were promulgated and public awareness grew. TRC developed business entities in atmospheric studies, air quality monitoring, air pollution control engineering, and ground water studies which formed the foundation for our future as a full service environmental business.

TRC’s history of setting the standard continued during the decade as we developed measurements standards for fugitive emissions and ventilation standards for schools and hospitals among other innovations.

1980s

The 1980s were a transformational decade for TRC. Expanding westward, TRC opened a new office in Colorado to support the mining industry and, using the now extensive knowledge of particulate matter and materials damage, helped to reset the EPA standard of large particles in and around mines. Also during this period, TRC began to build its specialty of providing services to utilities. With the Love Canal Project, the site that led to the initiation of EPA’s Superfund Program, staff at TRC managed the monitoring program and sampled for metals, organics, pesticides and other pollutants. With this experience, TRC’s hazardous waste experts designed remedial strategies for some of the first Superfund cleanups for Fortune 500 clients. The EPA used TRC data to quantify acid rain and began to study climate change. During this period, TRC’s air quality monitoring business also expanded and included contracts with EPA to develop industry specific emission standards and emission test methods. We designed and implemented a consolidated database of all industrial emission and compliance data for the EPA, called the Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS), and it continues to be used by EPA Headquarters, all 10 EPA regions, 50 states and trust territories. TRC also created an indoor air quality business practice and expertise in monitoring and managing asbestos abatement. With larger contracts and more recognition, TRC’s gross revenues broke the $10M mark in 1986 and reached $40 million by the end of the decade.

1990s

The 1990s were a decade of significant growth for the Company with gross revenue growing to $78 million in 1999 from $42 million in 1990. In December of 1991, TRC’s stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As a national leader in air quality consulting, growth was fueled by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 as we built a platform of master service agreements with many of the top corporations in the U.S. We also pioneered the concept of fixed-price environmental liability transfers through our Exit Strategy® program, and we remain the nation’s market leader in that service area. Our growing group of air pollution control staff wrote a guidebook on the Clean Air Act Amendments to advise industry management and decision makers; TRC won 52 Master Services Agreements for Clean Air Act Amendment compliance projects with companies such as GM, AETNA, Exxon, 3M and GE.

2000s

It was during this period that TRC expanded services in power delivery, engineering, procurement and construction as well as infrastructure design and construction management. TRC continues to evolve as a dominant force in the energy, environmental and infrastructure markets. Before ‘renewable’ became the nation’s buzz word, TRC had already permitted two wind farms in Texas. TRC won Environmental Business Journal awards for permitting and electrical engineering support on the Kibby Wind Power Project, the largest proposed wind farm project to date as well as for the Consolidated Edison Exit Strategy® Project, where our complex technical solution will enable one of the biggest redevelopment projects in New York City. TRC partnered with another industry leader, LVI Services, to launch RE Power™, a service to help power plant companies navigate the decommissioning process. TRC further expands into the energy and infrastructure markets; providing integrated engineering, environmental, construction inspection, and compliance services to public utilities, transportation authorities, and local agencies. As the nation emphasized the importance of energy conservation and independence, TRC set the standard with the groundbreaking work of the Energy Efficiency Division’s first of many contracts with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Our Energy Efficiency division was awarded the EPA Energy Star Partner of the Year for outstanding energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. TRC experts are currently addressing some of our nation’s most challenging issues: global climate change and energy independence. The unparalleled strength of our diverse staff and our commitment to solving our customers’ toughest challenges have made TRC a trusted advisor - providing comprehensive services and groundbreaking solutions. We not only share our clients’ goals, we take responsibility for reaching them. In our first 40 years, we pioneered new ways of tackling business and community problems efficiently and cost-effectively; it is a part of our history and a commitment we make to our future.

Our Commitment to Sustainability

At TRC, sustainability is a fundamental principle that drives our business. Our commitment is reflected in the Vision statement that guides us every day:

We will solve the challenges of making the Earth a better place to live – community by community and project by project.

Now, more than ever, our clients are striving for a balance between the need for economic growth and protecting the environment for future generations. Our integrated approach to solutions is focused on balancing economic growth, social responsibility and environmental stewardship through the entire project life cycle. Through our creative and forward looking approach to the market, we strive to continually create value for our clients. With this in mind, we collaborate with clients to design solutions with tangible and quantifiable results that often provide ongoing benefits, long after a project’s completion.

Through our continuing commitment to develop top talent, deepen our understanding of our clients’ needs, and deliver sustainable solutions to the communities in which we live and work, we are tackling some of the most pressing energy, environmental and infrastructure challenges the world faces.