In 1932, Bob Paulette and Murray Wilson formed Paulette & Wilson with
offices in Salina and Topeka, Kansas. The majority of their work was involved
with design of dams and lakes for the Kansas Fish and Game Commission and also
public works improvements for Kansas’s municipalities. At Bob Paulette's death
in 1941, the firm’s name was changed to Wilson & Company, Engineers &
Architects.
In 1940, Wilson & Company was asked to determine the geographical center
of the United States, which was found to be near Lebanon, Kansas. World War II
created a demand for the design of military air bases, and Wilson & Company
rapidly expanded as it was awarded projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Kansas.
In the 1950s, a by-product of the Korean conflict was a series of
projects including joint-venture responsibility for the design of McConnell Air
Force Base at Wichita, Kansas; the rehabilitation of Schilling Air Force Base at
Salina, Kansas; and Walker Air Force Base at Roswell, New Mexico.
In 1954, Wilson & Company was awarded design and construction management
responsibilities for the Kansas Turnpike from Wichita south to the
Kansas-Oklahoma border, fostering another growth phase. This project included
design of more than 100 bridges.
During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the Environmental
Protection Agency mandated and funded projects in domestic wastewater, a large
share of which were assigned to Wilson & Company, initiating more company
growth.
After many successful collaborations, Wilson & Company and
Hanson Engineers, Inc., formed a joint venture company in 1969,
Hanson-Wilson Inc. This corporation was formed to provide clients with a
multidisciplinary group of engineers and architects who together offered a
greater depth and breadth of knowledge, experience and services. Hanson-Wilson
also extends Wilson’s presence geographically across the country.
Today, Hanson-Wilson offers its services exclusively to the railroad
industry, providing: feasibility studies and planning; architectural, mechanical
and electrical design; facility design; track design; rail evaluation and
inspection; signalization; rail specification development; subgrade stability
analysis; geotechnical and hydraulic investigations; surveying, mapping and
aerial photogrammetry; bridge design, plan checks and inspection; and
construction engineering and observation. (To learn more, click here to go to
the Hanson-Wilson web site.)
During a 23-year time span ending in the 1980s, Wilson had a major role
in developing one-third of the roads, highways and expressways of Saudi Arabia —
consisting of more than 4,500 km in roads, more than 500 bridges, 18
interchanges, and several military-related facilities.
Wilson & Company pursued a steady strategy for growth. In the 1990s, many
railroad project opportunities were announced from various Latin American
countries due to railroad privatizations, spurring Wilson & Company’s interest
in expanding its services south of the United States border.
Wilson & Company became involved in Latin American projects focused on railroads
and other forms of transportation, environmental services including water and
wastewater, and industrial development, notably including the reconstruction of
the Panama Canal Railway, which officially reopened service in November 2001.
Wilson & Company continues to serve Latin America via its wholly-owned
subsidiary,
Wilson & Company Latin America LLC.
The employees of Wilson & Company celebrated the New Year in 2003 with an
expanded ownership structure as an incorporated firm. Effective January 1, the
former partnership became: Wilson & Company, Inc., Engineers & Architects.
The ownership expanded to include 23 individual owners, and the company now
offers its entire staff an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The nine
existing owners made up the initial Board of Directors. An additional six Vice
Presidents and eight Associate Vice Presidents were named for 2003.