Draft:Morrison-Maierle



Morrison-Maierle is a 100% employee-owned, professional services consulting firm with services in engineering, surveying, planning, technology, and science. It provides civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering, surveying, airport and transportation planning, and environmental science services. Most of its projects include work for agriculture, airports, commercial, education, energy, healthcare, industrial, government (sovereign nations and federal, state, and local governments), housing, and transportation.

History
In 1945, John Morrison Sr., a 15-year bridge design chief at the Montana Highway Department, started the firm in his home in Helena, Montana. In 1946, his friend, Joe Maierle, joined him and they formed Morrison-Maierle, Inc.

John Morrison, Sr. was born in Bedford, England. His family settled in Connecticut when he was ten. As a young man, 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. John Morrison, Sr. won the coin toss, stayed in Montana, and enrolled at Montana State College (now Montana State University) in 1923. He received a 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.

Joe Maierle was born in East Helena, Montana, where his father worked at the Asarco plant. Joe 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 and applied for a job at the Montana Highway Commission, which is now the Montana Department of Transportation, took a correspondence course, and completed his engineering education.

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."

Awards
Morrison-Maierle is listed as one of the top 500 engineering firms in the nation by Engineering News Record (ENR). In 2022, the firm was named 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. In 2023, Morrison-Maierle received a gold-level award from the Zweig Group for Excellence in Client Experience.

Company Structure
Morrison-Maierle's has 12 offices in Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon and eight market groups. It also owns a technology subsidiary, Morrison-Maierle Systems. It has a seven-member Board of Directors and more than 350 employee-owners. It's President/CEO is Scott Murphy.