Laura Breit is the Managing Principal and CEO of ColeBreit Engineering, a woman‑owned MEP engineering and design consulting firm based in Bend, Oregon. She founded the firm in 2013 as a small, hands-on practice and has grown it into the second-largest certified women‑owned MEP engineering firm in the Pacific Northwest. Under her leadership, ColeBreit now has more than 50 engineers and designers working across offices in Bend and Corvallis, Oregon, and Monterey, Napa, and Santa Cruz, California, with a growing presence in Eugene, Medford, and Portland.
Breit oversees a team that delivers mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, lighting, energy, and commissioning services to clients across the United States, with a strong focus on the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. Her work centers on making projects more efficient, predictable, and easier to build, while still meeting strict codes and long‑term performance requirements. For owners, architects, and contractors, ColeBreit serves as an integrated MEP partner that helps streamline coordination and reduce rework through clear, early design decisions.
From engineer to engineering leader
Laura Breit is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in multiple states, including Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, and Georgia, and she is also a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP). These credentials give her the technical depth to work on complex building systems and the sustainability mindset to help owners reduce energy use and long‑term operating costs. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, which grounded her early work in thermodynamics, fluid systems, and building performance.
Before founding ColeBreit Engineering, she worked at firms such as R&W Engineering and later became President and CEO of Root Engineers, where she led the firm for nearly a decade. Those roles taught her how engineering firms grow, how to manage client relationships, and how to balance technical quality with business realities. That experience shaped her decision to launch ColeBreit as a small, client-focused practice that could stay close to projects while still delivering high‑level MEP engineering.
How Laura Breit leads ColeBreit Engineering
As CEO and Managing Principal, Laura Breit focuses on how ColeBreit operates, not just what it designs. Under her leadership, the firm has expanded through organic growth and the acquisition of Axiom Engineers, another MEP firm on the West Coast, whose practice and team were integrated into the ColeBreit platform. This move helped ColeBreit offer more services and cover more markets while still maintaining a unified culture and set of design standards.
Breit has also introduced more structure into how the firm works. ColeBreit uses a formal operating system that defines project‑delivery workflows, goals, and decision‑making cadences across the organization. Every major project has clear owners, timelines, and performance targets, with leadership checking in regularly to remove roadblocks and keep work moving smoothly. For clients, that structure turns MEP engineering from a fragmented piece of the project into a more predictable and reliable partner that supports faster, smoother construction timelines.
Making projects more efficient from the start
Laura Breit believes that efficiency is easier to build into a project in the early stages than to retrofit later. ColeBreit works closely with architects and contractors to coordinate MEP systems with the building structure, envelope, and long‑term operations plan from the earliest design phases. This early coordination reduces clashes in the field, cuts down on rework, and lowers the need for costly change orders during construction.
The firm serves a broad mix of project types, including education, healthcare, industrial, multifamily, hospitality, and agricultural buildings. In each sector, the team designs systems that are not only code‑compliant but also practical to install and operate over time. Energy modeling, code‑compliance checks, and field‑testing are built into the design process so that issues are spotted before the job starts on site. This approach helps owners avoid delays, reduce risk, and deliver buildings that perform as expected over their full lifecycle.
High‑performance MEP and energy‑focused work
Energy‑efficient and high‑performance projects are an increasingly important part of ColeBreit Engineering’s portfolio. The firm has delivered Passive House‑certified buildings and deep‑decarbonization projects where aggressive energy targets are a core design requirement. These projects demand close coordination between HVAC, ventilation, envelope design, and commissioning so that performance goals are met without sacrificing comfort or reliability.
At the same time, ColeBreit carries several certifications that strengthen its position in the U.S. market. The firm is a Women Business Enterprise in Oregon, with WBE certifications in California and Washington, and it is also a Women‑Owned Small Business (WOSB) under the federal contracting program. For owners and public‑sector agencies, these designations help meet diversity and local‑business goals while still working with a technically strong, regionally grounded MEP engineering partner.
Leadership style and team culture
Laura Breit’s leadership style is practical, hands‑on, and relationship‑oriented. She stays involved in technical work, often reviewing drawings, guiding junior engineers, and talking directly with clients about complex MEP challenges. That involvement keeps the team focused on real‑world constraints like budget, constructability, and long‑term operations, rather than purely theoretical design ideas.
Within ColeBreit Engineering, she encourages a culture of clarity and collaboration. Engineers are expected to communicate in plain language, coordinate early with other disciplines, and see themselves as partners to the entire project team. This approach turns MEP design from a siloed service into an integrated part of the building process, helping projects move more smoothly from concept through construction.
Community engagement and regional impact
Outside the office, Laura Breit is active in her local business community. She serves on the Bend Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is the Chamber’s Chair Elect, helping shape programs that support small‑ and mid‑sized businesses in Central Oregon. That role reflects her belief that engineering firms are not just technical consultants but part of the broader regional economy.
Her work with the Chamber also keeps her in touch with the real‑world conditions that affect how projects move forward, permits, labor markets, and local policy changes. For U.S. clients building in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, that local context is often as important as the technical drawings and calculations. Breit’s mix of technical depth, business leadership, and community engagement makes her and ColeBreit Engineering a distinctive MEP partner in an industry that often struggles with coordination, transparency, and efficiency.
