2021 ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS JOURNAL
BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT: Small Firms
Presented to Marine Taxonomic Services, Ltd. for a milestone performance in 2021 distinguished by revenues of more than $3 million and growth of 42% for the year. From 2009 to 2021, MTS has expanded from four employees to 21 employees, generating 18% average revenue growth year over year and a 441% increase since 2009. Contributing significantly to business in 2021, MTS launched the largest aquatic invasive species management project in Lake Tahoe history. Valued at over $3.4 million, MTS is self-performing the entire project over three years. In addition, MTS partnered with another San Diego firm to respond to an infestation of Caulerpa prolifera. These large-scale projects, on top of a consistently growing portfolio of clients, have enabled MTS to grow sustainably over the last decade. Marine Taxonomic Services was established in 1990 by Howard Jones; in 2009 Seth Jones replaced his father as President and CEO in partnership with his wife and COO, Robin Jones, broadening the company’s capabilities. With a focused approach to expanding project management, field services and dive services, in addition to growing laboratory capabilities, MTS filled a unique niche in the environmental consulting industry. To support the company’s growth trajectory, MTS hired statistician and biologist Dr. Robert Mooney in 2012, and added seasoned project managers in 2017 to support growth in San Diego and in 2021 to support expansion in the Tahoe Basin.
2020 ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS JOURNAL
COVID RESILIENCE: RECORD CONTRACT
Presented to Marine Taxonomic Services, Ltd. for remarkable success in 2020 despite challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for winning the firm’s largest contract in its 30-year history. The $3.5 million multi-year contract focuses on aquatic invasive weeds containment, eradication, and subsequent monitoring in Taylor and Tallac Marshes, and represents an expansion of MTS’ service area within the Lake Tahoe Basin. The firm is proud to continue to expand its impact in invasive species management and to be self-performing the entire contract, from procurement to implementation, ensuring its legacy of high-quality, client-centered environmental consulting remains consistent. MTS continues to experience year-over-year revenue growth, and will be hitting another huge milestone for a small business with continued year-over-year increase in gross revenue.
2019 California Geotechnical Engineering Association
OUTSTANDING PROJECT AWARD - HONORABLE MENTION
Public Medium Project Category: Emergency Infill of "Koch's Crack" Sea Cave in La Jolla, CA
In partnership with TerraCosta Consulting Group
MTS worked as a subconsultant to the geotechnical engineering firm, TerraCosta Consulting Group, on the Emergency Infill of “Koch’s Crack” Sea Cave project in La Jolla, California. In 2020, the California Geotechnical Engineering Association received an Honorable Mention award in the medium sized public project category. The project was implemented as an emergency action to stabilize the land under Pacific Coast Highway because failure of the ceiling of Koch’s Crack Sea Cave was imminent. MTS worked with the construction team to provide environmental monitoring services related to marine habitats, water quality, and sensitive species such as marine mammals and abalone. MTS’ expertise was critical to ensuring the project proceeded in an environmentally friendly manner that would ensure that permits could be obtained after implementation of the emergency repairs.
2019 Environmental Business Journal
BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT: NEW PRACTICE
Presented to Marine Taxonomic Services, Ltd. (MTS; San Marcos, CA), for introducing a new service in 2019 that expanded the firm’s ability to meaningfully contribute to marine sediment remediation studies. MTS was able to expand its capabilities with the acquisition of a new vessel, the RV Innovation, in 2018. The RV Innovation was purpose-built for environmental sampling, with a primary focus on sediment core sampling. MTS equipped the vessel as a tool for sediment characterization, chemistry, and site remediation, and in 2019, the company introduced coring and sediment sampling capabilities utilizing this vessel. This new practice area expanded our business by 9% in 2019. MTS has performed work with the Army Corps of Engineers Portland District and have supported numerous sediment characterization studies for other consulting firms as well as shipyards on the West Coast. MTS has conducted the sediment characterization of shipyard sediments to evaluate whether remediation was successful. The practice team collected hundreds of cores in the Port of Portland Superfund Site as well as on the Columbia River to determine whether the material is safe for disposal at sea. Lastly, MTS has monitored other sites to support future potential remediation.
2018 Environmental Business Journal
SILVER BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: SMALL FIRMS
San Diego, Calif. (February 2019) —Environmental Business Journal®* (EBJ), a business research publication which provides high-value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry*, has honored Marine Taxonomic Services, Ltd. for Business Achievement in 2018.
“In what is widely regarded as a stable market, a number of companies exceeded the norms of low single-digit growth with double-digit growth or ambitious ventures into new practice areas or technology development,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI, Inc.), publisher of Environmental Business Journal.
Marine Taxonomic Services, Ltd. was recognized for 40% growth in 2018 and passing $2 million in revenues. MTS’ treatment and management of aquatic invasive plants in Lake Tahoe contributed significantly to the company’s revenue in 2018. The in the Lake Tahoe basin began in 2012 with the control of aquatic invasive clams, Corbicula fluminea, and has expanded in scope over the years to include the management of invasive plants including Eurasian watermilfoil and Curlyleaf pondweed that alter the aquatic ecosystem by raising the pH of the water, decreasing oxygen, and increasing water temperature. In 2018, MTS established a third office location in South Lake Tahoe, expanding the breadth of their services into aquatic biology. With over 200 days in the water, the team surveyed the entire shoreline of the lake using divers, remote-sensing, and LiDAR successfully treating invasive plants and animals all around the lake, contributing nearly $1M in additional revenue.