Business Partners and Suppliers
Collaboration is in our DNA
Tetra Tech started as a small business in 1966 and has grown to be a leading provider of consulting and engineering services. We are committed to being an excellent partner and mentor, consistent with our Leading with Science® approach to best serve our clients.
This is evidenced by our many U.S. Small Business Association (SBA)-approved business relationships, our SBA and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awards, and the $1 billion that we have subcontracted to small businesses since 2007. We also have supported our small business partners in winning hundreds of millions of dollars of prime contracts on their own.
By partnering with other companies and suppliers, we can offer more complete solutions to our clients and expand in growth markets and new geographies. We understand that innovation often comes from small or niche businesses who need support and resources to implement new ideas.
We are committed to safe and environmentally friendly ways of doing business that are cost-effective and efficient and expect the same commitment from our partner and supplier network. We engage our partner and supplier network to provide our teams with consulting and advisory services, specialized equipment and software, and materials and equipment to support our projects.
Teaming with Tetra Tech
Tetra Tech prequalifies businesses and suppliers to maintain a pool of capable, experienced, socioeconomically diverse partners that are ready to support our projects and perform. Up to the challenge?
Small Business and Partnerships Council
Big companies can be hard for small businesses to get to know and navigate. We solve this through our Small Business and Partnerships Council, which coordinates relationship development and sharing small business success stories across our entire company.
Specific to our work with U.S. federal agencies, Tetra Tech has established subcontracting policies across our broad federal customer base to recognize and encourage partnering with designated socioeconomic businesses. Tetra Tech believes in meaningful partnerships and understands the challenges small businesses face in this very competitive landscape. Whether in a formal mentoring relationship or not, Tetra Tech supports our partners to meet or exceed their required self-performance criteria, while providing the client the highest quality service from our team.
We recognize the value of collaboration and partnership with Indigenous peoples—sharing a common respect for the environment, sustainability values, and native rights while delivering superior service to clients.
Involving these partners in our global subcontracting initiatives also supports the socioeconomic goals of our government and commercial clients.
Awards and Recognition
We have worked continually to improve the participation of small businesses in our projects. Across all the markets we serve, we are proud to work with small businesses from every socioeconomic category. The U.S. federal government has recognized Tetra Tech with numerous awards for our proven record and well-defined process to mentor, guide, and train small businesses.
Mentor-Protégé Relationships
Tetra Tech believes in the power of small businesses to develop innovative solutions. We have been an active mentor-protégé program participant since the early 1990s. Through mentor-protégé programs, we:
- Bring the best subconsultant services to our clients
- Enable small businesses to compete more successfully for government contracts
- Support local economies by developing small business capacity
We have participated in mentor-protégé programs sponsored by the SBA, U.S. DoD, Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Our Protégé Firms
Tetra Tech provides technical, managerial, and business development training and support to help our protégé firms compete for projects and begin to provide services as prime contractors. Our current protégé firms are:
Small Business Administration
- Quaternary Resource Investigations, LLC (QRI)
- Sealaska Remediation Solutions, LLC
- American Operations Corporation
- R&K Enterprise Solutions, Inc.
- VivSoft Technologies, LLC
Federal Aviation Administration
Vendor Code of Conduct
Tetra Tech and our employees are required to demonstrate a commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct through adherence to our Corporate Code of Business Ethics and Conduct. Our business practice standards protect the company’s reputation; the quality of our products and services; and the best interests of our clients, shareholders, and employees. Vendors are expected to share Tetra Tech’s commitment to protecting and improving our environment through our projects around the world.
We require all business partners, suppliers, and subcontractors to maintain the same level of integrity and comply with Tetra Tech’s Vendor Code of Conduct.
Procurement Policy
Tetra Tech recognizes that our supply chain and procurement decisions can impact the environment and our long-term environmental sustainability, including the physical effects of climate change.
We strive to ensure that our core business values are integrated throughout the company’s supply chain and into the life cycle of our products and services. Our procurement guidelines aim to minimize risk in our business practices, comply with environmental and social regulations, control costs in the long term by adopting a wider approach to whole-life costing, create markets for new products and services, reduce waste, and improve resource efficiency.
Connect with us. Learn more about our small business and partnerships efforts.