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Olsson's Associates proves there's big business in small towns

Just because a company is big, successful and geographically diverse doesn’t mean it’s not rural. Here’s how Olsson’s Associates discovered early on that small towns have a need for services and money to spend, and parlayed that understanding into a 700-person engineering firm with connections to small towns throughout the Midwest.

It is 1956 and fortune’s face is smiling on rural Nebraska — grain prices are up, irrigated acres are showing a profit and rural citizens are feeling prosperous. Community improvement projects that were put aside get underway. John E. Olsson, an engineer working in Lincoln, NE, recognizes a market opportunity and starts an engineering firm.

“The new company basically worked with small towns improving water and sewer services in Nebraska,” says Mike Milius, engineer and manager with Olsson’s Associates Holdrege office. “During the 1950s and 60s, rural towns expanded and improved municipal services.”

But the farm economy withered in the 1970s and 80s. Municipalities spent less on their infrastructure and the young organization struggled.

 “We learned two lessons in the 1980s,” said Milius. “Don’t put all the eggs in one basket in regard to the client base because when the economy slows, towns don’t need engineering services. Also do not concentrate all your services in one location. Spread out geographically.” The current work load for Olsson’s Associates is 50% public and 50% private.

Satellite offices improve service

The company ’s determination to provide excellent service to the rural municipalities inspired John Olsson to bring engineering services closer to his customers. The company opened the first of its satellite offices, first in Grand Island, in 1987, and then, in Holdrege in 1990. Milius said, “John knew the key to our company’s mission is service, and if travel time is 8-10 hours, we aren’t providing quality service.”

As rural communities and rural businesses grew, so did Olsson’s Associates. In 1987 Olsson’s Associates employed 45 people, and today some 700 people serve customers from Lincoln, Phoenix and Tucson as well as offices in rural Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Nebraska. The Holdrege office employees 20 people.

Olsson’s Associates offices are located in relationship to the work and each office is placed in its location for a different purpose. For example, the Phoenix and Tucson offices handle land development while the Lincoln office focuses on city planning and environmental studies.

 “The Holdrege team does work in all different areas,” says Milius. “Holdrege is like a general practitioner in medicine, bringing in specialists when needed.”

Organization structure contributes to success

Milius thinks Olsson Associates growth may be attributed in part to the company’s structure and culture. “The organizational structure is flat, meaning ideas come from everyone,” says Milius. An example occurred recently in the Holdrege office. “We started an environmental science service here in Holdrege,” said Milius. “We were drilling to identify limits of contamination and sub-contracted the drilling work. After committing over a million dollars a year hiring drillers, we asked ‘why aren’t we doing this ourselves?’”

Employees wrote a business plan that recommended investing money in equipment and staff to handle drilling work from the Holdrege office. Today the Holdrege office has two drilling rigs and has expanded services to include materials testing. The Holdrege Environmental Group also provides services in environmental science, underground storage, environmental remediation and clean-up, wetlands management, and endangered species habitat.

To help maintain performance incentives, the company is employee owned — profits are set aside and invested in employee stock and a 401 K plan. Milius says, “The employee stock plan kicks in one year after the employee is hired. Because employees own the company, we manage our projects with care and stay aware of the other projects. If any of us see a problem cropping up or a cost savings opportunity, we speak up since it is money in our pocket when the projects are profitable.”

High-tech communications makes everyone part of the team

Communication technology keeps improving, and Olsson’s Associates strategically makes use of Blackberry, Blue Tooth, and other technologies.

“We’ve made it a point to be able to send and receive documents with ease to every office,” said Milius. “Because of technology, we can sit basically anywhere with a server and move data seamlessly among our companies and to our engineers and technicians in the field. Technology provides the key to our business.”

When asked how the company attracts professional people to work and live in small towns, Milius replies, “The Holdrege office is attractive because we hire people who grew up in small towns and often in this region. None of our engineers are from Chicago, for example. Most are from towns like Blue Hill, McCook, and Beatrice.”

Milius said employees also appreciate the diversity of their work with Olsson’s Associates. “We don’t do the same things every day,” Milius said, “and most of us work outside the office and on the job site at least part of the time.”

Bio-fuels part of vision for the future

In offering advice for operating a successful enterprise in a small town, Milius said, “Understand your company’s core business. For example, engineers provide service, and engineering is purely a service business. We sell expertise. We maintain contact with 30-40 communities and we know that if we do a good job, they will become a loyal client.”

In discussing the company’s vision for the future, Milius said the company would be concentrating on bio-fuels technology, and helping Midwestern towns develop bio-fuel industries.

“We are learning that even if a community doesn’t acquire a bio-fuel facility, the price goes up for ag products and everyone wins,” he said. “When the price of corn goes up, the ripple effect is big.”

Who To Contact...

Olsson's Associates
Mike Milius, PE
701 4th Avenue, Suite 2C
P.O. Box 885
Holdrege, NE 68949
(308) 955-8706
www.oaconsulting.com
mmilius@oaconsulting.com

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