TWO HARBORS — Municipal and aviation engineer service provider Bollig Engineering opened its new office in early March. Bollig works with rural communities to secure funding that creates affordable solutions for their residents.
“Our new office in Two Harbors will strengthen our ability to support the communities we serve in ways that align with our values," Brian Bollig, engineer and president, said. "Our team will spend less time traveling and more time building relationships and finding solutions that strengthen, preserve and transform rural communities in Minnesota."
Bollig Engineering was founded in 2007. The Willmar, Minnesota-based company also has Minnesota locations in Clear Lake, Little Falls, Sartell and the Twin Cities.
The Bollig team consists of more than 30 engineers, architects, construction managers, funding specialists and other staff.
Its new Two Harbors branch office, 418 Seventh St., is led by Nathan Feist, a local resident and professional engineer with a decade of experience at Bollig.
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The Two Harbors branch serves regional clients such as Silver Creek Township in Lake County and McGregor in Aitkin County, Feist said.
"A big part of our approach is funding. When we work with small towns, the funding process is multiple years," Feist said. "There is a lot of federal funding, and state funding mechanisms to match and maximize federal funding in the municipal market. There is money out there and you just have to have an engineering company to look for it."
The tax base of a small town with a population under 3,500 people may not support larger infrastructure projects like crumbling roads or leaking sewers, Feist said.
"A big industry need right now is that a lot of our sewer infrastructure was done in the 1940s. We're replacing pipes that should have been replaced 30-40 years ago, and a lot of these towns can only do it with federal funding," he said.
The company is advocating for Silver Creek Township on a project to replace failing septic systems with new sewer systems along the Lake Superior shoreline on Minnesota Highway 61, Feist said. The project would also enable the Minnesota Department of Transportation to purchase additional right of way land to widen the road for safety, and the Department of Natural Resources to expand the Gitchi-Gami State Trail.
"We love small towns as clients. It's very rewarding," Feist said.
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