The firm was founded in 1970 by Ron Yaggy in
Rochester, Minnesota, as Yaggy Associates, Inc., a civil engineering
consulting firm. In late 1987, Yaggy Associates, Inc. merged with a
Rochester architectural firm owned by Chris Colby. Chris joined the firm as
Vice President and Director of Architecture, and the firm name was changed
to Yaggy Colby Associates to reflect its new identity. 36 years later, the
firm has over 162 employees in three different states.
The Corporate office is located in Rochester, Minnesota. Regional offices
are located in:
Burnsville, Minnesota
Mason City, Iowa
Delafield, Wisconsin
Growth 1977
Land Development and Surveying services were added to the firm. In 1977, Don
Borcherding joined the firm and became Executive Vice President. A
professional engineer and land surveyor, Don brought with him considerable
land surveying and transportation experience.
Expansion 1979
Community Planning services were added to the firm. Response to market needs
led to the opening a new office in Mason City, Iowa in 1979. This allowed
the firm to broaden our efforts in community planning and municipal
engineering.
1984
Economic Development and Landscape
Architecture services were added to the firm. In an effort to meet the
growing demands of the client's needs, the firm continued to expand services
and further diversify the firm by adding economic development planning and
landscape architecture in 1984.
Merger 1987
Architecture
In 1987, Yaggy Associates, Inc. merged with a Rochester architectural firm
owned by Chris Colby. Chris joined the firm as Vice President and Director
of Architecture, and the firm name was changed to Yaggy Colby Associates to
accurately reflect the new identity.
Growth 1991
Transportation Engineering services were added to the firm. Services
expanded with the growth of transportation services. The addition of Scott
Samuelson, Director of Transportation in the Rochester office, led to
substantial growth in transportation engineering.
Growth 1994
Geotechnical Services and Environmental
Engineering services were added to the firm. Services expanded with the
addition of two key professional engineers, bringing technical expertise in
Geotechnical Engineering to the Rochester office and Water/Wastewater
Engineering to the Mason City office.
30th Anniversary 2000
The firm celebrated its 30th Anniversary with more than 80 employees in two
offices. The year also marked additional ownership and leadership transition
for the firm with the retirement of Ron Yaggy. At this time the Principal
ownership group was expanded to five members with the addition of Bob Ellis,
Scott Samuelson, PE, and Jose Rivas, AIA.
Merger November 2000
Welch Hanson and Associates, Inc., of Delafield, Wisconsin, became a
Division of Yaggy Colby Associates. With this merger the firm employed over
120 employees.
Growth August 2002
Land Management Services were added to the firm. Services expanded with the
opening of a new office in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, adding right of way
and land management services.
Growth December 2004
The firm grew with the opening of an office in Hastings, Minnesota. The
additional office provides a broadened geographical presence in the
Southeast Metro and Western Wisconsin areas. With this additional office,
the firm has 172 employees.
November 2006
At this time the Principal ownership group was expanded to eight members
with the addition of Terry McCarthy, Michael Court, PE, and Mark Mickelson,
PE. In November 2006, the Hastings, Minnesota office consolidated with the
Mendota Heights, Minnesota office to more efficiently meet the needs of the
clients. The combined Mendota Heights office provided a greater range of
services for new and existing clients.
December 2007 - A time of
transition
The end of 2007 marked ownership and
leadership transition with the retirement of Don Borcherding. At this time
the Principal ownership includes: Bob Ellis - CEO, COO, Scott Samuelson -
CFO, Jose Rivas, - Secretary, Chris Colby - Principal, Terry McCarthy - Vice
President, Michael Court - Vice President and Mark Mickelson - Principal.
40th Anniversary and Corporate Reorganization
In May of 2010, YCA announced the creation of CRW Architecture + Design group, a spin off of its
architecture and interior design department. CRW and YCA will continue to partner on projects
and with clients. YCA, with approximately 100 employees, continues to offer multidisciplinary
services to public and private sector clients throughout the upper Midwest.