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Clapsaddle-Garber Associates Celebrates 50 Years of Business

This year Clapsaddle-Garber Associates celebrates it's first half-century of business.  In 1959 CGA opened its doors in Conrad, Iowa as Clapsaddle Engineering by Jack Clapsaddle, an ISU graduate in civil engineering and a licensed Professional Engineer.  The firm became known as Clapsaddle-Garber Associates in 1967 when Dwayne Garber, also an ISU graduate and licensed Professional Engineer, partnered with Clapsaddle.  In December of 1971 CGA moved its offices and 14 employees from Conrad to North 3rd Avenue in Marshalltown.  Today, the firm has 31 employees within its Ames and Marshalltown offices and is headquartered in the old Forney Opera House at 16 East Main Street in downtown Marshalltown where it has resided for the last 26 years.

CGA provides Engineering, Surveying, and Construction and Testing services to governmental, industrial, and private clients.  Over the last half-century the professionals in the firm have completed projects in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.  Over 5,300 surveys and 2,500 projects have been completed in 240 cities and 71 counties.  Over 2,100 of those surveys and projects were located in the Marshalltown and Marshall County area.

Over the years CGA has expanded its services and acquired several other firms including Thompson, Willis and Company of Marshalltown, Carpenter and Associates of Ames, Stewart Surveying of Marshalltown, and Engineering Plus of Ames.  Growth of the company has lead to a number of satellite offices to open including locations in Newton, Des Moines, and Ames.  In 1993 the CGA corporation restructured and the water and wastewater departments evolved into Fox Engineering, a separate company now headquartered in Ames.  CGA expanded into Ames again in 2006 with its acquisition of Engineering Plus and now is capable of greater service in the Ames and Des Moines areas.

The eight Professional Engineers (P.E.) and two Engineering Interns (E.I.) at CGA specialize in the planning, design, financing, and construction administration of transportation projects including highways, streets, parking systems, airports, recreational trails, and pedestrian facilities; site development projects including residential and industrial subdivisions and public and private building construction and improvements; utility design including water mains, sanitary sewers, storm sewer, and storm water management; and Right of Way acquisition including permanent and temporary easements.

CGA has worked at approximately 50 airports in the State of Iowa.  Three of those airports were designed from the ground up by CGA engineers and include Belle Plaine Municipal Airport, Grinnell Regional Airport, and Osceola Municipal Airport.  Currently, there are 59 active airport projects including planning, runways, taxiways, Terminal Buildings, T-Hangars, and navigational aids.  In addition to airports, CGA has 48 active transportation, utility, and site design projects.  Some recent local projects include the MCC site improvements, East Olive Street improvements, Cretex Plant, Highland Acres Road, Hampton Inn and associated infrastructure, Merle Hibbs Boulevard, Village Coop, Conrad all-weather track, Marshalltown Community Y, and Marshalltown Community School District's Lenihan, Miller, and Rogers schools.

CGA's four Licensed Professional Land Surveyors (P.L.S.) and two Land Surveyor Interns (L.S.I.) are responsible for the establishment of right of way easements, boundaries and plat preparations, staking for construction projects, and topographic surveys.  The company currently maintains six fully equipped field crews using state of the art equipment including GPS and robotic total stations.  In the past year CGA's crews have surveyed over 140 miles of transmission lines in Iowa and Minnesota and have performed over 320 surveys.

Currently CGA employs three full time construction technicians who provide on-site inspection services to ensure quality control during project construction as well as in-house soil and material testing services.  These individuals have a combined 42 years of experience and are liaisons between the client and the contractor.

Current employees with the firm include Bill Grabe, P.E., President and CEO; Mike Bearden, P.E., Vice President; Matt Garber, P.E., P.L.S., Vice President; Roger Luehring, CFO and Treasurer; Rob Garber, P.E.; Mindy Bryngelson, P.E.; Adam Daters, P.E.; Ken Janssen, P.E., P.L.S.; Neal Fobian, P.E.; Joe Falk, P.L.S.; Travis Stewart, P.L.S.; Jeff Sogge; Brent Port; Jessica Fisher, E.I.; Marc Hoodjer, L.S.I.; Jeremy Harris, L.S.I.; Joe Roenfeldt, E.I.; Terry Dennison; Scott Sorem; Rita Goecke; Tim Albright; Joey Lang; Jayne Vry; Amber Port; Brian Titus; Alisha McGinn; Erik Plessinger; Alison Long; Todd Stanley; Scott Catron; and Pierre Doanetto.