Celebrating a Decade
of Collaboration
2017 is an exciting year as we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the collaboration between two Montana companies, founded by entrepreneurs, with one shared vision who formed Territorial-Landworks, Inc. As we honor this landmark, we look back at where we started and share a bit of the story of how TLI came to be.
In 1983, Tim Wolfe started Territorial Engineering & Survey providing surveying and engineering services with an emphasis on construction surveying across Montana. In 1992 Ed Fleming joined Tim as a partner in the firm, and through attention to client needs and willingness to travel far and wide, the business grew organically. In the early 2000’s TE&S had grown to a team of 15 employees, including Mark Bellon who joined in 1994 upon his graduation from Montana State University, and became a partner in 1998.
Jason Rice had an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to start something great, so in 2003, he founded Landworks Consulting & Design, Inc. At the time, the company set out to focus on civil land use consulting as well as general land use consulting. Upon the start of Landworks Consulting & Design, Nathan Lucke also joined as a partner in the firm.
TE&S and Landworks Consulting & Design partnered on many projects, collaborating and sharing strengths and resources that each company had. Landworks Consulting wanted to get into the survey side of the business to provide a larger array of services to clients and rather than starting from the ground up, it made sense for the two companies to collaborate and form one company.
Founded on a shared vision of providing clients with value, a great experience, and attention to detail, Territorial-Landworks, Inc. was established. The partners of the firm created a list of the seven core values that still guide the company today. These core values embody the shared principles, vision and ethics that TLI is founded upon.
In 2007 when the two firms merged to create Territorial-Landworks, there were 24 employees. Within the first year of TLI, Matt Jacobson and Andy Short became partners of the firm. While the market slowed from 2008-2011, the partners of TLI made sacrifices to keep the company moving forward. During this time, Tim Wolfe took an explorative trip over to the oil fields of the Bakken to see if it made sense for TLI to consider a market expansion east. In 2012, Territorial-Landworks, Inc. began providing survey & engineering services in the area.
This geographic expansion opened doors to new opportunities and the realization that TLI had the ability to expand to other markets. By establishing relationships in areas where there is a need for the services offered by the firm, TLI has opened offices in other locations since this time.
In 2014 TLI opened the Billings office. Kolten Knatterud was the branch manager of the Bakken office and following the opening of the Billings branch, he relocated to Billings to assist in the growth and expansion of the market. Kolten then became a partner of the firm in 2015.
The Flathead Branch opened in the summer of 2016, and the Helena branch followed at the start of the year in 2017.
TLI will continue to evaluate new markets, strengthen relationships, maintain a strong presence across Montana and invest in the growth of staff members. With growth and expansion comes challenges and the primary focus has been on making sure that the high level of client care and attention to detail is maintained across the firm. All decisions are made with purpose and pace to ensure this standard of care.
As we celebrate our anniversary and look back on our history, we want to thank each and every one of you that we have had the pleasure to do business with.
We look forward to serving you
for many years to come!
