Bob grew up in Sydney, Montana, a small town in the Yellowstone Valley.
He started college at Montana State Northern, then transferred
to North Dakota State in Fargo, North Dakota to continue his education
as a pre-med student. Having grown up in a fiercely patriotic home,
he served in the military as a member of the army reserve in
college – he’d chosen the reserves over the active duty delayed-entry
marine corps program so that he could continue to go to school,
a compromise that allowed him to pursue both his passion for education
and his deeply rooted desire to serve his country. During college Bob
was placed on standby a few times but was never mobilized.

After graduating from North Dakota State with a degree in Zoology and a minor in Chemistry, Bob set up the next phase of his life. He enrolled in a program that would move him closer to his goal of becoming a doctor, rented an apartment, and started looking for work. Unfortunately, a need arose for him to return to Montana indefinitely so he could be near family during a difficult time.

Bob found himself back in his hometown and in need of work. Sydney is a small town, and Bob heard through the grapevine that the county was looking for someone familiar with CAD. He’d taken an architecture course early on in school and hadn’t retained much of his knowledge of CAD, but, never one to leave a stone unturned, Bob inquired about the position. He met the County Public Works and Survey Director and asked if he could fill the position on a temporary basis while he retrained himself. The county made his employment permanent after he demonstrated a fierce work ethic and a strong command of CAD.

By 1998, Bob had grown restless. He’d stayed in Sydney long after that difficult time had passed because he had a good job and had started a family of his own. But it was time for his world to expand – he and his young family chose Fort Collins, Colorado as their new home. Though Fort Collins might not be the biggest city (especially back then), it was definitely a much bigger place than Sydney, Montana. Bob got what he was looking for: he landed with a large engineering company, and the way they treated him, combined with the freshness of being in a new city, filled Bob with awe and amazement. 

It wouldn’t last, sadly. Eventually Bob started
losing passion in his work. The big company he
was so charmed by in the beginning had changed
and he found himself being stripped of his identity.
He was an employee number, not an individual, in
the eyes of his employers now. Bob wasn’t going
to accept that, so he decided to move into the next
chapter of his life. He worked for a time at multiple
well-established surveying companies along the
I-25 corridor, but none of them were the right fit. 

By 2008, Bob had met a lot of good people,
accrued a lot of valuable experience, and learned
something about the state of the surveying
world – there were big firms for big work and small firms for small work, but he knew he could run a small firm that did big work while retaining all the small firm advantages, like having close client relationships, tight control of work progress, and the agility to spring into action when a client needs something scheduled right away. Best of all, he could ensure that no one working for him would feel like they were just an employee number. He’d maintain a tight-knit group that knew his door was always open because he cared about them as people, not just as co-workers. 

Rocky Mountain Meridian was founded in 2008 and Bob succeeded in fulfilling that vision of a responsive, personal, attentive surveying company that provided large-firm expertise and reliability at a competitive price. He staffed his company with driven people, and had the good fortune to hire one or two people he’d worked with along the way. Rocky Mountain Meridian has experienced success by being a strong competitor for work, providing the most accurate data using technologically advanced equipment, and by valuing the power of a strong team. As we enter our second decade of operation, we’re proud to continue prospering under Bob’s leadership.