Donald T. Goldberg and William S. Zoino, two colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded GZA in 1964 as Goldberg Zoino and Associates. GZA maintained a steady growth in geotechnical engineering through the mid-1970s followed by expansion into New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
 
During the 1980s, the firm’s environmental business grew along with the rest of the environmental services industry, eventually accounting for nearly two-thirds of the company’s total business. In 1986, GZA created subsidiaries to conduct environmental remediation and specialty drilling services. Overall, the workforce increased from about 50 employees in the late 1970s to over 500 today in 22 offices throughout the United States.                                         

In 1989, GZA became GZA GeoEnvironmental Technologies, Inc. and became a publicly traded company (on NASDAQ as GZEA). In 2000, senior management and employees purchased the company returning it to a privately held stock company. Most of company’s growth has been focused on integrating geo-environmental and geo-civil services. GZA’s tunnel–related geotechnical services are in strong demand. These service areas continue to grow and today GZA’s diverse capabilities include: mold and fungal consulting, marine engineering and construction, site perimeter air quality monitoring, ecological and life sciences, occupational health and safety, and environmental information management systems, among others.