Bill Tryon Joins Partner

TORRANCE, CA—July 18, 2014—Partner Engineering and Science Inc. (Partner), a California-based environmental and engineering consulting and design firm, welcomes industry expert Bill Tryon. Tryon joins Partner as director of strategic development, where his focus will be on advancing key risk management initiatives from an environmental, engineering, and construction risk standpoint. With a much-changed regulatory landscape, and greater scrutiny of commercial real estate risk management taking shape post-recession, Tryon’s hiring is a timely one.

A well-respected thought-leader in the commercial real estate industry, Tryon has a long track record of innovation and has influenced best practices across the due diligence industry. During his 30 years working at institutions such as Wells Fargo and LandAmerica, he has focused on developing risk management policies and procedures for environmental due diligence, construction risk, and seismic risk. This included participation with the Environmental Protection Agency, American Society for Testing and Materials, Small Business Administration, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae to establish and/or refine policies and requirements dating back to the late 1980s.

“The commercial real estate and lending communities are evolving the way they think about due diligence and risk, in large part due to lessons learned during the recession, but also more recently from regulatory scrutiny on this issue,” said Partner president Joseph Derhake, PE, in reference to regulatory changes such as Dodd Frank and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency’s updated handbook for commercial real estate lending released in fall of 2013. This updated handbook places greater emphasis on how lenders should manage environmental and construction risks, among other things. “Early in our industry’s history, Bill was at the forefront of creating due diligence policies and has seen what property cycles can do to shed light on risky practices in commercial real estate transactions.”

Tryon’s impressive career has afforded him invaluable insight into all aspects of the commercial real estate industry, where his approach has largely been to help clients streamline risk management strategies to control risks, while reducing costs and creating a competitive advantage. In addition to consulting on the development of industry-defining standards such as the EPA’s all appropriate inquiry and ASTM’s E2026-07 standard for assessing seismic risk, Tryon worked as a risk manager for Wells Fargo to develop thorough and consistent procedures for evaluating and managing risk for the lending institution and its clients. Subsequently, Tryon served two international due diligence consulting firms in the position of vice president and technical director where he was responsible for the creation, refinement, and implementation of principles and procedures to identify and treat real estate risks to allow clients to make sound business decisions.

As a consultant, Tryon’s personal mission has been to bring a common sense approach to due diligence that reflects the nuances of each deal. “Our world isn’t black and white, and it’s navigating the grey areas that make a consultant truly valuable. The right answers for one party may not be the right answers for another – though they are all legitimate answers,” Tryon commented. “This is why collaboration, which is often overlooked in due diligence, is so important.”

“We, our clients and the industry as a whole will benefit from Bill’s passion for advancing how risk management is conducted,” commented Derhake. “We share that passion and are thrilled to provide him a platform to further that goal.”

Contact Bill at: