ICF International, Inc. is a

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City move ...

-based global

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

services company, which provides a range of services for governments and businesses, including strategic planning, management, marketing and analytics. The company was founded in 1969, and as of 2019, had US $1.48 billion in revenue, with approximately 7,000 full and part time employees in more than 90 offices.

History

1969–2006: Early history

ICF was founded in 1969 as the ''Inner City Fund''. Its first president was Clarence D. Lester, a

Tuskegee Airman The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Arm ...

, who was joined by three

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

analysts. As a

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which h ...

firm, Inner City Fund sought to finance and help minority-owned businesses win government contracts. The company reorganized as a consulting firm and renamed itself ''ICF Incorporated''. The firm transitioned from venture capital to consulting on energy issues for U.S. federal agencies, which was the company's main focus throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. ICF acquired Kaiser Engineering in 1988 and went public in 1989. The combined company became known as ''ICF Kaiser''. Under this banner, the company worked in consulting, engineering and construction services. ICF and Kaiser split in 1999 when an investment group bought the consulting business for about $70 million. In 2006, the consultancy was renamed ICF International and in September that year, the company went public, trading on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

as ICFI. The company received criticism of its management of the

Road Home Road Home is a program funded by the U.S. government which has provided federal grant money to help Louisiana residents rebuild or sell houses severely damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This federally funded program is administered by th ...

program in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. In an article in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', the company said it had addressed problems raised in those criticisms, and that state and federal fraud-prevention rules were in flux and made the grants administration process more time-consuming. The company later supported the

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

relief efforts for the State of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

2007–present: Expansion of commercial work

Beginning in the 2000s, ICF grew in size and scope through a series of acquisitions. These acquisitions expanded the services offered by ICF and moved the company more into the commercial space. In 2007, federal, state and local government contracts generated 92 percent of company revenues. Commercial work, which accounted for 6 percent of revenues in 2007, grew to 20 percent of revenues by 2011. By the end of 2016, commercial work accounted for 35 percent of revenues.Form 10-K, p. 13 In 2012, the company expanded its international business by acquiring

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based GHK Holding Limited, a consulting agency working with government and commercial clients. In 2014, it expanded its European presence with the acquisition of Belgian communications firm Mostra S.A. Through GHK and ICF Mostra, the company has worked with the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

. In 2014, ICF acquired

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

Olson for $295 million. The company's work includes campaigns for

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

; Skittles, whose "Marshawn Lynch’s Skittles Press Conference" was named ''

PRWeek ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine for the public relations industry. The original UK edition was the brainchild of the late Geoffrey Lace who at the time worked for Haymarket. After failing to interest Haymarket in his idea he left to launch it on ...

s Product Brand Development Campaign of the Year in 2016; and

Puppy Bowl The ''Puppy Bowl'' is an annual television program on Animal Planet that mimics an American football game similar to the Super Bowl, using puppies. Shown each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the show consists of footage of a batch of puppies at play ...

sponsor

Bissell Bissell Inc., also known as Bissell Homecare, is an American privately owned vacuum cleaner and floor care product manufacturing corporation headquartered in Walker, Michigan in Greater Grand Rapids. In 2016, ICF created ICF Olson, a public relations and marketing division. In addition to Olson, the new division absorbed other ICF acquisitions, including digital service firm Ironworks and engagement house CityTech. ICF International rebranded as ICF in 2016. In 2017, ''

'' reported that ICF/ICF Olson had experienced high growth in its public relations and digital business.

2019 - ICF NEXT

In 2019, ICF launched subsidiary ICF NEXT, led by John Armstrong, who had previously co-founded IBM's Interactive Experience (iX) internal agency.

Operations and services

ICF is publicly traded on the

as ICFI, and is headquartered in

. As of year-end 2019, ICF employed around 8,000 workers in 75 regional offices throughout the U.S. and 15 offices in other countries. John Wasson is

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

. Barry Broadus is

CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

. The company provides management, technology and policy consulting, cybersecurity and implementation services in the following markets: government, energy, environment, infrastructure, transportation, health, education, social programs, public safety and security, consumer and financial.Form 10-K, p. 11 ICF initially focused on federal government consulting contracts in energy and the environment and expanded its commercial work in subsequent years.

Notable work

ICF's Integrated Planning Model (IPM) has been used by the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...

(EPA) to project the impact of

electric power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions ...

business sector In economics, the business sector or corporate sector - sometimes popularly called simply "business" - is "the part of the economy made up by companies". It is a subset of the domestic economy, excluding the economic activities of general go ...

policies on the environment and to analyze the

Clean Power Plan The Clean Power Plan was an Obama administration policy aimed at combating anthropogenic climate change (global warming) that was first proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 2014. The final version of the plan was unveil ...

, Carbon Standards for New Power Plants,

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Mercu ...

and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Other agencies, including the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

of the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

, the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Interstat ...

and the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the United States federal agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce and regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in ...

, have used IPM. The EPA has awarded contracts to ICF to assist with the agency's

Energy Star Energy Star (trademarked ''ENERGY STAR'') is a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that promotes energy efficiency. The program provides information on the energy consumption of pr ...

program, including technical and analytical support. The company also conducts the

Demographic and Health Survey The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program is responsible for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on health and population in developing countries. The project is implemented by ICF International and is funded ...

funded by the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

Major acquisitions

Below is a table of ICF's major acquisitions:

Rankings and recognition

Rankings

*''Forbes'' ranked ICF No. 186 on its list of America's best midsize companies in 2017 *''PRWeek'' ranked ICF No. 15 on its Agency Business report in 2017 *''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...

'' listed ICF Olson among its list of the 50 largest agencies in the world in 2016

Recognition

*Women in Technology’s The Leadership Foundry presented its 2016 Corporate Leadership Award to ICF, whose eight-member board of directors includes three women *ICF's Olson Engage won Best in Show at the In2 SABRE Awards in 2016 for its Skittles Super Bowl campaign *ICF was named a “Fast Moving” brand by GBC, the research wing of the Government Executive Media Group, in its 2017 Leading Brands in Government study

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1969 establishments in Virginia Companies based in Fairfax, Virginia Companies listed on the Nasdaq American companies established in 1969 Consulting firms established in 1969 Consulting firms of the United States