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Moore Engineering, Inc. is now occupying its new West Fargo location at 925 10th Ave. E., and will be previewing their facility with a special public open house celebration set for Thursday, June 26. The staff recently moved into the 22,500 square foot office building, which serves as main headquarters for the civil engineering and land surveying company, complete with permanent offices to accommodate 75 staff people, as well as housing the building inspection department for the city of West Fargo. The site also has room for expansion, with the future potential for doubling the work force. Moore Engineering President Jeff Volk said the new facility confirms the company's commitment to the city it has worked in for well over four decades. "We have been physically located in West Fargo for 45 years and are proud to reinvest in the community by expanding our capabilities to provide better service to our clients. Since we are a technical company this move has allowed us to update our technical abilities and resources necessary to become more efficient because of our continued growth." The business was originally founded in 1960 by brothers Clifford Moore and Marshall Moore, with its headquarters in the city since 1963. An engineer from their staff has served West Fargo continuously since that time as city engineer. The company also provides municipal engineering services for approximately 65 surrounding communities in North Dakota and Minnesota and water resource engineering services in the region. In addition, Moore Engineering, Inc. provides engineering and land surveying services for federal, state, and local units of government as well as clients in the private sector. In 2004, a branch office was opened in Fergus Falls, Minn. Throughout the years, Moore Engineering has shown continuous growth in the community, with a current staff of 68 full-time professional and technical employees in West Fargo, nine in the Fergus Falls office, and over a 100 employees during the summer months with additional part-time people on board. These total numbers include 33 engineers and three registered land surveyors. In 1998, the company formed an Employee Stock Ownership Plan to allow partial ownership of the company by its employees. In 2004, the company became a 100% employee owned company. Current members of the board of directors, all playing active hands-on roles with various areas of engineering expertise, include Volk as president; Roger Fenstad, chairman of the board; Kevin Bucholz, secretary-treasurer; and Nick Gludt, vice president. Fenstad has been with the firm since 1974, Volk since 1977, Bucholz since 1987 and Gludt coming on board in 1989. Bucholz said the new building was constructed with a convenience factor in mind. "Our proximity is in the center of the community in the core part of town. It was important for us to have ease of access to our building for city residents and builders. We also have relatively close access to City Hall, where our company conducts a large portion of its city engineering activity. The long-range plan is for continued growth and this site will allow us to grow the company. We were also conscious of the fact that we wanted the building to be a complement and asset to the surrounding community and fit into the neighborhood." For that reason, Fenstad noted that no elements were spared with the design feature, right down to the orientation of the building. "We made a real effort for it to fit into the community and the area we had to work with. We kept the same architectural feature all the way around since all four sides are visible, including situating the parking lot to the side, so it can't be seen from 9th Street East. It also provides much needed room. "We were capped in space in our previous office so this location and space has really helped us expand our capabilities." Gludt said that another of the driving factors behind the new building concept was making it a nice facility for the employees to come to work to, and as members of the employee owner's group, something they are proud of, and can enjoy. Pointing out their commitment, he said a majority of Moore Engineering employees are North Dakota or Minnesota born and raised and are graduates of local technical or professional institutions who either came back to the community for employment or never left in the first place. Gludt also pointed out that this facility is one of the largest office complexes ever to be constructed in the community, and a possible segue into a true technical corridor that could come into being with the imminent completion of the 9th Street Interchange and the recent announcement of the West Fargo Technology Center located in the vicinity. Everyone is invited to take in all the grand opening has to offer and visit the new Moore Engineering, Inc. facility. Details of the June 26 event are outlined in the announcement on the adjoining page. "We want to invite the entire community," Volk emphasized. "We want neighbors across the street to come on in and learn what our business is all about. It is a community celebration, but we would also like to welcome and encourage all our clients and customers from other communities we serve who would like to attend." "We are very proud of many nice comments that we have received from the community members who have gone out of their way to say how nice the building looks. I think we've created a buzz in the community with our building. We are extremely excited and proud and hope everyone stops by."