Eagan, Minnesota geospatial firm celebrates its golden anniversary and second-generation family ownership.
When Anthony Martinez opened a two-room office in St. Paul in 1974, he never dreamed of how his company would grow in size and complexity. Now, 50 years later, with his son Steve at the helm of Martinez Geospatial, the company celebrates its golden anniversary with a look back at how both technology and the industry have changed over the past 50 years.
“It’s exciting to consider how far we’ve come, both as a company and as an industry,” said Steve Martinez. “We’ve grown from a small single-person office to a team of 33. Our first projects were limited to orthophoto maps, and in the past several years, we have worked on numerous photogrammetry, aerial, mobile and ground-based LiDAR projects. Martinez Geospatial began providing 3-D modeling services in 2006, and our largest Building Information Modeling (BIM) project was for Philadelphia International Airport.”
Martinez Geospatial has grown and changed over the years to offer innovative, industry-leading geospatial services to its clients. Clients responded enthusiastically, with an ever-growing list of large, complex projects to the firm’s credit. Major projects Martinez Geospatial has worked on include mapping for the design of the Superconducting Super Collider particle accelerator in Texas (1987), O’Hare Airport (1994), and the Philadelphia International Airport (2015-2016), the company’s largest project to date. And in between these major milestones are hundreds of equally important projects ranging from mapping sites for historic preservation to providing surveys and mapping for the transportation industry to keep roads and airspaces safe.
“It’s been an amazing journey,” said Steve. “When my dad opened his first office, they produced only hard copy maps. He added a computer six years later that was as big as a refrigerator. Today, that much computing power probably fits in a watch. Everything is digitized, and we can send images anywhere with the touch of a button.”
Few things last 50 years, let alone businesses. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 36% of companies last 10 years and about 21% survive to see their 20th anniversary. The U.S. Census Bureau (as cited in Building Indiana Business) reports that only about 12% of companies are older than 26 years. Beyond 26 years, no reliable data on company longevity exists. Only a handful of companies seem to survive beyond 26 years, with most sold or closing with the founder’s retirement.
Martinez Geospatial is different.
“I was fortunate that my father gave me a part-time opportunity while I was still in high school,” said Steve. “Some of my job duties at the time included accounting assistant, opaquing negatives (similar to removing dust artifacts in Adobe Photoshop), working in the photo lab exposing and developing contact prints and diapositives, pugging diapositives, and operating a Kelsh K-320 ortho instrument. Even back then, technology fascinated me and I was eager to learn and get involve with all aspects of the company.”
Martinez Geospatial has come a long way from its beginnings in 1974. Milestone after milestone marks its achievements with both the acquisition of new technology and techniques and the number of satisfied clients that utilize its services. From cutting-edge drone and LiDAR technology to exceptional service, Martinez celebrates this milestone along with its customers and looks forward to 50 more years of service to architects, engineers, and others who need precise and expert geospatial services.
Credit: EIN Presswire, read the article here.