GEOMAT, Inc. is regionally recognized as being a highly reliable and responsive engineering firm that operates quietly, but effectively in support of their clients' construction projects.

GEOMAT was formed in 2004 and the principal owner is Matt Cramer. GEOMAT provides geotechnical (soils) and structural engineering and also construction inspection for its customers. The company’s customers are in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and parts of western Texas. About 40% of their business is in San Juan County, 40% in the Albuquerque area, and the remaining 20% in the Four Corners area. 

GEOMAT has served in the engineering work for the Aztec Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Hilton Home 2 Suites, the Santa Ana Hotel, the Bloomfield Municipal Building, the San Juan College School of Energy, San Juan Regional Medical Center, the Northern Edge Navajo Casino, and many more private and governmental businesses. GEOMAT has earned over 70 industry certifications.

GEOMAT provides high-paying jobs and offers its team members numerous benefits and a flexible work schedule. The company is proud to offer team members a very supportive environment and the people who work there are like a family. GEOMAT has grown to 44 employees currently, counting their local employees and those in Albuquerque.

The GEOMAT materials testing laboratories are unique, and the company is the only locally owned business providing these specialized services. In recent years, GEOMAT has tripled their number of proposals and projects.

GEOMAT sponsors numerous civic organizations and sports teams and provides internships for students from Farmington high schools. Employees are involved in STEM events and Math Counts. The company is looking into a plan for donating paid time for their employees to volunteer.

As is the case with many other San Juan County businesses, the biggest challenge facing GEOMAT is finding and hiring the right people. That especially includes attracting technical engineering talent. Taking initiative, GEOMAT provides summer internships and other “out of the box” techniques, including trying to hire and then promote people from within the company.

Customer service is everything for GEOMAT. Owner Matt Cramer believes that if you take care of your clients, the business will take care of itself. The foundation of that client care is the superior service that GEOMAT believes it provides.

Walsh Engineering & Production, Inc. has been in business since 1964 and was founded by Ewell “Red” Walsh. Today its principal owners are John Thompson, West Hahn and Vern Andrews. 

Walsh has multiple divisions to assist well owners in all aspects of producing oil and gas in the San Juan Basin. These teams include engineering, production, oil and gas accounting, regulatory and environmental compliance, land/legal services, and equipment sales. 

The company has a clear and focused customer service philosophy:

• 100% Real
• 100% Effort
• 100% Dependable
• So, 100% RED (in honor of the company founder)

Walsh’s customer base includes companies that provide oil and gas production equipment, oilfield services, exploration, drilling, and all aspects of a full-service oil and gas service company. The customer base includes private industry as well as Native American tribes. Walsh’s customers are found in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, and California. Some 35-40% of Walsh’s business comes from outside San Juan County.

Walsh Engineering and Production offers its workforce excellent wages and benefits including health insurance, a gap plan, supplemental insurance, vision and life insurance, a 401(k), a bonus and profit-sharing plan, and the opportunity to buy into a sister company (EPIC Energy). The company is proud of its employee-oriented culture with a close-knit family environment. Employees appreciate the flexible scheduling too.

Walsh has a team of highly trained engineers, and that technical and professional manpower would be hard to replace. Their focused management strategy is using an entrepreneurial operating system (EOS) called “Traction” which has helped Walsh focus and grow the company through a great deal of success.
Both revenue and employees have grown in the past five years for a cumulative total of around 200%. Walsh plans to add to their existing service lines and continue to grow EPIC Energy, which contracts with Walsh Engineering for services. 

In the past Walsh has worked with San Juan United Way, helped underprivileged community members, participated and volunteered in events hosted by the Farmington Chamber of Commerce, donated to the Boy Scouts of America, and youth sports. Each year Walsh gives over $10,000 to local causes and EPIC gives $20,000. They have created a Culture Club, which is an internal group of volunteers that coordinates company events and community outreach.

Walsh Engineering & Production wants San Juan County to know that it is a great place to work and the company is planning to make it even better in the future. They want their employees to feel valued and heard. They also want to be known for giving back to the community and that they are the community.

Jarrett Johnson and Margaret Vandervalk are the owners of Navajo Dam Enterprises. In 2016, after securing a new thirty-year concession agreement for Navajo Lake Marina, Navajo Dam Enterprises Inc. undertook a total remake of the original 1962 marina so that boat owners with slips at the marina and the public would want to visit.
The customer is the boss at Navajo Lake Marina and employees receive extensive customer training. In 2017 the revitalized marina won Marina of the Year for the Northern Hemisphere honors from the industry magazine, Marina Dock Age. In 2018, Jarrett was acknowledged as being one of the “40 under 40” most influential people in the boating industry.

With hospitality and boat rentals as their two major service offerings, the Navajo Lake Marina serves customers of all ages and from all walks of life. And those customers come from all over the region. As an example, 400 of the boat slip holders are from New Mexico and 123 are from Colorado.

Navajo Dam Enterprises has 16 full-time employees and 55 seasonal employees, and they pride themselves on being a training ground for what might be a high schooler’s first job. Those youth can become department heads and supervise others if they show capability. These jobs are outdoor jobs and not sitting inside at a desk doing data entry. At times, the marina even takes on workers who have experienced troubled lives and need another chance.

As there’s no other area business offering the same goods and services as the marina, Navajo Dam Enterprises knows it has to compete for people’s discretionary dollars. To win a share of the outdoor recreation market dollar, Jarrett has personally visited over 3,000 marinas to benchmark other operations and learn from them. He’s passionate about his work and works long hours to stay current and competitive. 

As far as growth, the owners of Navajo Dam Enterprises have invested about $16M in total over the years in capital improvements. In addition to growing revenue and seasonal staff 100% since the acquisition, the owners have added a new store, expanded the number of slips, acquired Sims Marina (across the lake to the east), offered non-motorized vehicles for rent, grown the rental fleet, added public lodging, widened walkways, provided a fishing hole, and created special water events. Driving growth is benchmarking and research and hard work. 

A large community service project for Navajo Dam Enterprises is Cast for Kids, an effort to help kids with special needs. They also support the annual Connie Mack Baseball Tournament and many sports teams and fundraisers.

A massive problem for Navajo Dam Enterprises was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The marina was closed longer than almost any other business due to State of New Mexico health regulations. Another ongoing challenge is working with government agencies. While most businesses can make expansions and renovations without government oversight, every project at the Marina must go through a lengthy approval process with New Mexico State Parks, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Navajo Dam Enterprises would like San Juan County to know that they are open to everybody! Their mission is to bring a first-class recreational facility to the citizens of San Juan County and beyond. That has the concurrent benefit of bringing dollars and recognition to this county.