Founder

KBA founder Kris Betty dedicated her career to the advancement of public works in the region. She dedicated her 40-year career to improving the civil engineering field by increasing public agencies’ confidence in the construction management process. “Early on in my career, there was a fundamental lack of trust and mismanagement between project owners and contractors, so there was an opportunity to bring professionalism, attention to detail, and accountability to how designs get constructed”, says Kris. Having identified a need that wasn’t currently addressed in the profession, and which she felt passionate about, Kris founded KBA, Inc. in 1994. “Making sure that project owners receive a good product and good value with taxpayer dollars is really important.” Under her leadership, KBA grew from a one-person company into becoming the region’s premier construction management firm with over 100 KBAers, overseeing the management of multi-million-dollar construction projects for local and regional entities around the Pacific Northwest. From pre-design to close-out, KBA assists project owners by providing contract administration, project documentation, inspection, construction coordination, analysis, and reporting services. While building infrastructure, Kris also built trust between KBAers, clients, and the community. Trust is so integral to KBA’s purpose that it’s part of our tagline: Teams That Build Trust. Kris has been an active leader in the engineering community and has held positions for local chapters of organizations such as American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), American Public Works Association (APWA), and Construction Management Association of America (CMAA). She has been recognized by the University of Washington as the 2021 Civil and Environmental Engineering School’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. Kris was also named the WTS Woman of the Year in 2014 by WTS Puget Sound, and the Engineer of the Year in 2012 by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).