Rocky Mountain Transit and Laser, Transit Instruments join to serve survey, construction customers

Livermore, CA - Two award-winning positioning products dealers - Rocky Mountain Transit and Laser of Sandy, Utah, and Transit Instruments of Murray, Utah - have formed a partnership with a common goal to bring the highest level of service and support to users of precision technology, primarily in Utah.

Owners of Rocky Mountain are Joe Micklos and Jeffrey Burton; Transit Instrument is owned by Dan Hirst. The new partnership forms the largest positioning products provider in Utah.

The common connection for the two firms is Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS). Rocky Mountain has been a Top 5 dealer of Topcon machine control construction products for the past three years and together with Transit Instruments, will begin selling Topcon survey instruments; Transit Instruments, a former Topcon dealer, announced it would immediately begin selling the entire Topcon product line - survey and construction.

The two dealers have more than 60 years of experience in the positioning business in Utah. Rocky Mountain offers sales, service and rentals of GPS and optical surveying instruments, construction lasers, as well as repair services and field supplies. Transit Instruments specializes in providing and servicing a full line of survey and construction solutions, including the sales, leasing of GPS and optical surveying instruments. The company also provides products from more than 30 name brand companies and is the No. 1 field supply house for surveyors in Utah.

Peter Wallace, TPS director of sales-survey, praised the two companies for their "years of commitment to quality sales, training and service. Both companies understand the importance of integrating technology and market changes to benefit their individual businesses and customers.

"No business is changing faster than the precise positioning business," he said. "With the technology changing rapidly, local service and support is critical. While advanced technology is allowing more productivity for every surveyor and contractor, the business is also becoming more complex. To succeed and grow, the positive formula for any instrument business is in providing immediate local support and aggressive training and service programs."

Wallace said the partnership is not just two companies joining together to become a bigger company. "This is a classic example of excellent companies pledging to work together to become a multi-service source for supporting their customers' growing reliance on the latest and most efficient positioning technology."

Micklos of Rocky Mountain said the partnership is "absolutely the best of business opportunities for our customers and employees. Working with Dan Hirst and his staff is a great opportunity for us to learn from his extensive experience in the surveying industry."

He said with Transit Instruments picking up the Topcon instrument line, "We will be forming a strong partnership focused on providing all our customers, and potential customers, with the best positioning instruments available today."

Burton said working with Transit Instruments is an "excellent opportunity for both companies to attract additional customers. Between the two companies, we have more than six decades of experience in survey and construction solutions.

"We will be taking on the full Topcon survey line and be moving back into that market segment big time, as well as continuing to be a premier provider of Topcon machine control products," Burton said. "Both companies are fixtures in the industry and the combined knowledge of our individual staff members is phenomenal.

"This partnership is a win-win situation from every angle."

Hirst said the partnership will "give us a better sense of the total marketplace and, with the addition of Topcon instruments, the best and most complete selection of products to offer customers. At one time, we carried Topcon product, and it's great to go full circle and to be back on the Topcon team."

He said, "In my 34 years at Transit Instruments, I've never been as excited as I am about this partnership with Rocky Mountain. With their expertise in construction products and positioning systems, the synergism of our two companies will provide the best products and the best possible customer service, bar none. This new partnership adds invaluable experience to our operation and we believe our experience can benefit Rocky Mountain as well."

About Rocky Mountain Transit and Laser
Joe Micklos and Jeff Burton started Rocky Mountain Transit and Laser, located at 8389 South Sandy Parkway in Sandy, Utah in 1989. Both had worked at Certified Blueprint before starting the survey sales, field supply and service business.

Three years ago Rocky Mountain added the Topcon Positioning Systems' line of machine control products; The company has been in the Top 5 of dealers in machine control sales every year since.

The company culture hinges on one crucial area: Service. At Rocky Mountain, every step of the sales process - from first potential-customer contact to repair, focuses on individualized service. Every customer. Every time.

The company has a total of 12 employees in three locations - Sandy, Utah, and in Reno and Las Vegas.

About Transit Instruments
Transit Instruments, 612 W. Confluence Avenue in Murray, Utah, is a family-owned and operated business that provides surveyors, engineers, and contractors with the highest quality technical and measurement tools, supplies, training, and service.

In 1963, James W. Hirst founded Transit Instruments Service Company. Focusing on the repair of surveying instruments, the master watchmaker gave great attention to detail, restoring the customer's instrument to the exact standards required by the manufacturer. Hirst ensured the instrument was repaired correctly the first time, providing customer service that is still the company's highest priority today.

As a young boy, Dan Hirst began training with his father, learning how to service and repair instruments. Some years later, the elder Hirst's health began to fail; he died in 1973. Dan enrolled in three early morning classes during his senior year of high school that same year and began working full time at Transit Instruments, eventually taking over his father's business.

Over the years, the services offered by Transit Instruments expanded into equipment and application consulting; and selling the best quality instruments for precision optical alignment solutions, total stations and GPS instruments needed by surveyors, engineers and construction companies.

Hirst has always believed in the values and business philosophies his father taught him. The company prides itself on providing incomparable service, support and training to its customers.

About Topcon Positioning Systems
Topcon Positioning Systems, a developer and manufacturer of positioning equipment, offers the world?s leading selection of innovating precision GPS, GIS, laser, agriculture, optical surveying, and machine control products, software, and applications.? Topcon Corporation is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732).