Draft:Morrison-Maierle

• Comment: External links should be removed or converted to inline citations where appropriate. Greenman (talk) 12:01, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
• Comment: This sounds promotional rather than encyclopedic. Take a look at First Interstate BancSystem for history example and Link & Haire for partner biographies. Neither is perfect but will hopefully guide you.--Tbennert (talk) 02:57, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

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Morrison-Maierle provides civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering, environmental science, surveying, and planning services.

Morrison-Maierle is a 100% employee-owned, professional services consulting firm offering capabilities in engineering, surveying, planning, technology, and science. Its core purpose is to create solutions that build better communities. They focus on civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering, surveying, airport and transportation planning, and environmental science services.

History In 1945, John Morrison Sr., a 15-year bridge design chief at the Montana Highway Department, left the state government to start a private engineering company in a spare bedroom of his home. A year later, he persuaded his longtime friend, Joe Maierle, to join him. They formed Morrison-Maierle, Inc. and never looked back. Morrison often said he and Joe worked a long time for the highway department first to get “the state out of the mud,” as driving on Montana’s clay roads was cumbersome and slowed down transportation. They knew a highway system would bring jobs into the area, which Montana needed after WWII.

John Morrison, Sr. Born in Bedford, England, John Morrison, Sr., settled in Connecticut with his family when he was ten. On a trip to the West with his brother, they stopped to talk to a highway department survey crew near Arlee, Montana. Arguing about their future, the brothers decided that a coin toss would determine whether they stayed in Montana or moved on to the Pacific Coast. They tossed the coin, which landed with the Montana option face up.

Having worked for a civil engineer as a surveyor—and shortly after the coin toss—John Morrison, Sr. enrolled at Montana State College (now Montana State University) in 1923. Without a high school diploma, he received his B.S. in 1927 and obtained his professional civil engineering license in 1931. Morrison is the first person in Montana to have been licensed as a professional engineer-surveyor. His professional engineering license (PE) is “No. 1.”

Joe Maierle The son of a miner, Joe Maierle, was born in East Helena, Montana, where his father worked at the Asarco plant. Because money was tight and he needed to help his family, Joe dropped out of high school and went to work. After three years at Asarco, he decided that to get ahead, he needed to finish his education. Joe returned to high school in 1927, graduated, and completed his college degree in basic engineering from Mount St. Charles College—now Carroll College—in 1929 in Helena, Montana. Joe intended to finish his civil engineering degree at Montana State College (now Montana State University). After his father passed away in 1929, he stayed in the Helena area to support his family. He applied for a job at the Montana Highway Commission, took a correspondence course, and completed his engineering education.

Morrison and Maierle Join Forces Starting a private firm in Montana was a considerable risk as consulting engineering was a little-known profession in 1945. In a 1995 interview, Morrison said: “In my work with the state and through the traveling I had done, I’d observed that in many of the Montana communities, there was quite a need for improvements to the streets, their sanitary systems, water systems, and the other branches of infrastructure to make them meet the needs of modern-day conditions.”

John Morrison, Sr., seated on the left, and Joe Maierle formed Morrison-Maierle in 1945 in Helena, Montana

John Morrison and Joe Maierle worked well together from the beginning to the end of their careers. Morrison’s son, John Jr., said in an interview in the PSMJ Resources, Inc. newsletter about Morrison-Maierle: “When my father and Joe Maierle went into business together in 1946, they had a partnership many of us envy. I don’t think they ever argued, and both understood what they needed to be successful: a good staff, a genuine concern for clients, and the ability to agree upon and set a course of action for the firm.”

Engineers, Surveyors, Planners, Scientists, and Technology From its beginning, Morrison-Maierle has been listed as one of the top 500 engineering firms in the nation by Engineering News Record (ENR). In 2022, the firm was selected as the ENR Intermountain Design Firm of the Year for its structural, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering work, in addition to surveying, airport and transportation planning, and environmental sciences. Most of its projects involve creating engineering solutions for various industries, such as agriculture, airports, commercial, education, energy, healthcare, industrial, government (sovereign nations and federal, state, and local governments), housing, and transportation. In 2023, Morrison-Maierle received a gold-level award from the Zweig Group for Excellence in Client Experience.

Morrison-Maierle owns a technology subsidiary, Morrison-Maierle Systems, which began in 1982 and helps businesses build and execute IT strategies. They have been consistently recognized as one of the world's top Managed Service Providers (MSP).

Company Structure Morrison-Maierle’s project work is based primarily throughout the western United States. The firm has 12 offices in Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon, led by individual Operations Managers (OMs). With eight market groups led by Market Group Leaders (MGLs), the firm approaches most of its projects with a “one-company mindset” that allows its staff to work together as one from many of its office locations.

Morrison-Maierle has a seven-member Board of Directors, two of which are independent directors, and the remaining five senior-level staff members. It has an eight-member Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and 13 additional senior managers (made up of its eight Operations Managers and five Market Group Leaders) that make up Morrison-Maierle’s Senior Management Team (SMT). Morrison-Maierle and Morrison-Maierle Systems have more than 350 employee-owners as of spring 2024. It's President/CEO is Scott Murphy.

Morrison-Maierle is a 100% employee-owned firm. Each year the company holds a meeting for its employee-owners.

Employee-Owned Company Morrison-Maierle is a privately held company, and its staff— “employee-owners”—are ESOP participants. Since 1945, Morrison-Maierle has been an employee-owned company in one manner or another. However, in 2017, it converted to a 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). From the first day of employment, those new to the company become employee-owners.

Employee-owners must work a set number of hours yearly to become fully vested in the ESOP. Each year, an external valuation firm measures the company’s stock price based on several metrics. The annual stock price is revealed to its employee-owners in the spring of each year.