By Marc Stiles – Senior Staff Writer, Puget Sound Business Journal
Mar 10, 2021
Since the end of last year it seemed a good bet that international project management and cost consultant Cumming would soon move its headquarters from Los Angeles to Seattle.

This week the 1,000-employee company made it official after announcing Portland-based Inici Group has merged with Cumming’s Pacific Northwest team. Having the headquarters in Seattle will better support “the consultancy’s significant growth throughout the Pacific region,” the announcement said.

In December, Cumming said new Chief Operating Officer Finlay McLay was moving to Seattle to work with CEO David Baird.

“Seattle is a big growth market for us,” a company spokespersons said at the time, when the local office had 80 employees and was hiring. The merger brings Cumming to 140 employees in the Northwest.

Founded in 1999 and led by Karl Schulz, Inici is a construction services company that guides developments from conceptual stages through occupancy. The company has completed more than $1.1 billion in projects along the West Coast, including some with Cumming.

Inici clients include Nike, the Port of Portland, Portland General Electric, Portland-area community colleges and Legacy Health. The company will continue to operate under the day-to-day leadership of the current executive team during the merger.

Cumming’s portfolio includes high-tech, industrial, office, education, hospitality, retail, health care and multifamily residential sectors totaling more than $300 billion in project value. The company has 30 U.S. offices, as well as one in Beijing and four in the United Kingdom.