Engineering firm with Wyoming presence acquires Fort Collins’ Lidstone & Associates

CHEYENNE – An engineering firm with offices in Cheyenne and Sheridan is expanding both its geographical footprint and its expertise with the purchase of a similar company in Fort Collins.

Wenck Associates Inc. completed its acquisition of Lidstone and Associates Inc. in Fort Collins in early July, effectively doubling Wenck’s Rocky Mountain presence with the addition of 15 employees and three part-timers. Wenck is based in Minnesota, but expanded into Wyoming in 2012 when it bought out States West Water Resources. Between its two offices in Wyoming, the company has 15 employees, but the overarching company employs 275.

Jack Meena, principal of Wenck Associates Wyoming, said the firms had already worked together in subconsulting and subcontracting arrangements running both directions over the Wyoming-Colorado border.

“It seemed like an ideal merger,” Meena said, indicating that Lidstone has solid contacts in Colorado to expand the physical footprint easily. But, he said, it also brings specialties in geology and groundwater development that Wenck Wyoming lacked.

Currently, Meena said it’s unclear how much interplay there will be between the firm’s Wyoming and Colorado offices, but said it should be substantial as the fresh merger finds its legs.

“I think we’ll be a joint team,” he said, adding that the arrangement should help out both the offices in Wyoming and Colorado.

Lidstone partially retains the name it has built up, and is now called Lidstone and Associates – A Wenck Company. The merger, a release said, expands its service offerings into air quality; environmental management and regulatory compliance; environmental review and assessment; facility and process engineering; industrial hygiene and safety; natural resources; real estate; site assessments; sustainability; traffic engineering; waste management; and water resources.

Wenck was founded in 1985 and now has 14 offices in six states.

“By combining Wenck resources and expertise with Lidstone, we continue to strengthen our foothold in the western region and our company overall,” a Wenck spokeswoman said. “With strong relationships in Wyoming and Colorado, and private clients extending into the Pacific Northwest, this will serve to further support our strategic geographic expansion in water, mining and civil in this western region.”

on Facebook on LinkedIn