All roads lead home.
After leaving Dickinson to get their post-secondary education and early work experiences under their belt, a pair of Dickinson High graduates are back home. And though they may not have guessed it in the beginning, they now have a business of their own.
KC Homiston and Jamie Glasser are joints owners of Highlands Engineering and Surveying, PLLC.
"Last fall, I called Jamie," Homiston said. "I started thinking about starting up a business. Jamie is a land surveyor and I'm an engineer, so it was kind of a perfect fit for both of us. We started talking more and more about it and kept in contact with one another."
Homiston earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of North Dakota. From there, he worked for consulting firms in Minnesota and Colorado designing and managing various civil engineering projects. He is licensed in the states of North Dakota and Colorado.
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"My background is in land development, municipal engineering and general infrastructure" Homiston said. "I have experience with subdivisions, single-family housing, multi-family housing and commercial property projects. That was my background in Denver."
Most recently, Homiston had been employed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service in Dickinson.
Glasser left the state much sooner, earning his Bachelor of Science in geomatics from the University of Florida. After graduating, he worked for Nick Miller Inc. near West Palm Beach, Florida.
"I was a land surveyor basically doing surveying out in the field and in the office." Glasser said. "I was basically managing the surveying aspect of the office up there."
Some of the projects Glasser was involved with included work for the Florida Department of Environmental Projection and the South Florida Water Management District. Glasser is a registered professional land surveyor in the state of North Dakota.
In April 2004, Glasser moved back to North Dakota to work for Wold Engineering in Minot.
"I did pretty much the same things we're doing here," Glasser said. "I was the survey manager in the Minot office and handled all the surveying duties as far as construction staking, well staking, land surveys and plats."
With Homiston already in Dickinson, he could see first-hand the building boom his hometown was experiencing, making the idea of starting an engineering and surveying business seem more than feasible.
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"I was hoping to grab at least some of that work with the development that's happening here in town, to provide services for some of the developers," Homiston said. "Jamie was up in Minot and we just got to talking and we thought it would be a good fit for both of us. We pulled the trigger in early May and April 23 was our official first day."
Since opening their doors for business, Highlands Engineering has built it's clientele base primarily by word-of-mouth.
"We've done quite a few projects already and people have been really happy with us," Glasser said. "Some people we did surveying for, we heard from a second person that they were really happy with our work."
And though the private sector has been keeping them busy, Glasser and Homiston hope to break into the public sector as well.
"The people that we've talked to feel that there's a need for another engineering firm in Dickinson," Homiston said. "The oil and gas business, especially in this part of the state, has really helped us. We've done quite a few oil wells already. That's kind of given us the shot in the arm to get going."
Highlands Engineering and Surveying is located at 2125 Sims Suite #3. Their office telephone number is 701-483-2444.
