| Type | Employee Owned Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Ground engineering and environmental services consultancy |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Key people | Brian Conlin (Company President)[1] |
| Employees | ~7,000 (2010)[2] |
| Website | www.golder.com |
Golder Associates is an employee-owned, multi-disciplinary global group of companies specializing in ground engineering and environmental services. Its nearly 7,000 employees operate from more than 160 offices in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America. Golder serves the finance, insurance, real estate and legal (FIRL), land development, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, power, transportation and waste management market sectors.
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The company was founded in Toronto, Canada in 1960 by Dr. Hugh Golder, Victor Milligan, Larry Soderman and John Seychuk under the name H.Q. Golder and Associates, and focussed on soil mechanics and ground engineering.[3]
In the 1970s, the service offering expanded to include rock mechanics. In the 1980s the company’s groundwater practice evolved to encompass the broader field of hydrogeology, with particular expertise in contaminated soil and groundwater. In the early 1990s, as public awareness of environmental issues increased, Golder added biological capabilities – including aquatic and terrestrial biology – to its range of services. Hydrology and hydraulic engineering were added in the late 1990s, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), information management, cultural sciences and energy services were added in the 2000s.
The company established other offices in Canada in the early 1960s, later expanding into the United States (1968), as well as the United Kingdom and Australia (1972). Since then, the company has grown geographically through a combination of opening new offices and through mergers with existing companies. The most recently established offices (2009) are located in St. Petersburg, Russia and Delhi, India.
Golder Associates formed the Golder Trust for Orphans in 2003. The organisation collects donations from Golder’s employees and operating companies, as well as external donors. The Trust funds grass-roots charitable organisations serving the needs of orphaned children in Africa affected by HIV/AIDS. The Golder Trust has raised over $1 million USD since its inception and currently supports projects in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania.[4][5]