Surveying company opens with new name, new location

FARMINGTON – Three long-time employees of a local land surveying and mapping company are opening their own business near the downtown, looking to build on more than 100 years of experience.

Acme Land Surveying LLC, opening its new office at 108 Fairbanks Road, above Aardvark Outfitters, offers land surveying, deed research and mapping services and will employ between six and ten workers. The company is owned by Erik Lochmann, Randy Oakley and Peter Cook, all of whom worked for Randy Collins’ Acme Engineering & Design, Inc. for a combined 64 years.

Collins had operated the business since 1982, developing the largest, private collection of maps and data in Franklin County. After he passed away in 2008 three of his employers, Lochmann, Oakley and Cook, purchased the collection and opened their own business.

Surveying has a number of purposes, from construction and project development to mortgage loan inspections to boundary disputes. In addition, Acme Land Surveying will provide deed research services, forest management-related data and prints maps. The enormous collection of maps and files give them an advantage, according to Lochmann, as it often provides them with a starting point for new surveys, saving time and money.

In addition, the company utilizes GPS surveying equipment, rather than having to rely only on the traditional sight surveying methods. This can also make the process cheaper and faster, according to the owners.

Currently, the company has three or four employees in addition to Lochmann, Oakley and Cook, with more than a 100 years of surveying experience. The owners anticipate that number increasing when things get busier.

The company will be holding an open house on Sept. 2, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., at their office above Aardvark Outfitters. Acme Land Surveying LLC can be reached at 778-4081.