Olsson Associates agrees to buy Joplin firm

Lincoln, Neb.-based Olsson Associates Inc., which operates an office in the Queen City, completed negotiations and signed a definite agreement to acquire Tri-State Engineering Inc. in Joplin.

The transaction is expected to close July 18 for undisclosed terms.

Rob Mersch, office leader at Olsson Associates in Springfield, said the deal would help grow the company’s market share in southwest Missouri.

“This one just made a lot of sense for a lot of different reasons,” Mersch said. “Good team, good workload, good clients and our ability to grow and build staff down there - it’s just not an area where you can grow organically real easy.”

The firms have worked together in the past, including Community Development Block Grant projects in Joplin after the 2011 EF5 tornado struck the city.

Tri-State Engineering, which also operates an office in Claremore, Okla., is a 20-employee engineering firm with services including roadways and bridges, water supply treatment, site design and solid waste disposal.

Tri-State Engineering’s staff will remain intact and the company will become a division of Olsson Associates until year’s end, according to a news release. The firm will take on the Olsson name in 2017.

While Mersch said the firm doesn’t often make acquisitions, the news come a month after the closure of a separate purchase. Olsson Associates finalized an acquisition of Lutjen Inc., a North Kansas City firm, which pushed its companywide workforce above 1,000.